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19537
I usually tend to downplay worries about research in genetics, but I was quite concerned after reading “Expanding the genetic code” (SN: 4/2/05, p. 222). The researchers surely have plans to keep whatever they create contained. But adding a fifth base to the DNA of bacteria with a genetic mutation rate 10,000 times that of […]
- Ecosystems
Quick Fix: How invasive seaweed repairs its wounds
Scientists have discerned the chemistry underlying the rapid wound-healing process in an invasive green alga that is wreaking havoc in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Astronomy
Star Packed: Super cluster is first to be detected in Milky Way
Astronomers have detected the most massive and densest cluster of young stars ever detected in the Milky Way, a finding that could shed light on how stars formed in the early universe.
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Little Brains That Could: Bees show big-time working memory
Even though a honeybee's brain could fit on the head of a match, the creature's working memory is nearly as effective as that of a pigeon or a monkey.
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19536
The technique of ultrasonic leak detection through sensors mounted on the skin of a spacecraft or space station sounds good until the structures being monitored become more complex than a single sheet of aluminum. Then, resolving ambiguities from reflections and localizing the exact point of leakage may become difficult. Perhaps a portable device, with four […]
- Tech
Leak Locator: Ultrasound for finding holes in spacecraft
Researchers have devised a way to pinpoint leaks in spacecraft by listening to ultrasound waves traveling through the ship's hull.
- Earth
Breeding Parasites Along with Fish: Do sea lice from salmon farms spread far?
Marine parasites known as sea lice spread readily from farmed salmon to passing wild fish, according to a controversial study conducted in British Columbia.
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Follicle Size Matters: Hormone regimen may reduce pregnancy success
Hormone injections used to induce livestock and women to ovulate could force eggs to leave ovarian follicles before they are fully mature and thereby jeopardize pregnancy outcomes.
- Physics
Pinstripe Electricity: Novel fuel cell relies on thin, aqueous streams
A promising new type of fuel cell exploits microstreams of water, which behave like flows of gooey honey.
- Earth
Hit Again: December temblor probably caused new Sumatran quakes
Seismic activity that rattled the Indonesian region early this week, including a quake that measured a whopping magnitude 8.7, was triggered by December's massive tsunami-spawning earthquake, scientists suggest.
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19535
I usually tend to downplay worries about research in genetics, but I was quite concerned after reading this article. The researchers surely have plans to keep whatever they create contained. But adding a fifth base to the DNA of bacteria with a genetic mutation rate 10,000 times that of normal bacteria seems unnecessarily dangerous. I […]
- Chemistry
Expanding the genetic code
In an effort to explore the mechanisms of evolution, researchers have designed an unnatural chemical base and inserted it into synthetic DNA in a test tube.
