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AnimalsWing Ding: Bird rubs feathers for cricketlike song
Scientists say that they have found the first vertebrate to make its courtship music in the same way as a cricket does.
By Susan Milius -
PhysicsGlints from Inner Space: Sensing Earth’s hidden radioactivity
Physicists have observed signatures of radioactivity deep within Earth, enabling measurement of planet-wide thorium and uranium quantities.
By Peter Weiss -
HumansLetters from the July 30, 2005, issue of Science News
Led astray The illustration of the solar system in “Roaming Giants: Did migrating planets shape the solar system?” (SN: 5/28/05, p. 340) does not represent the current orbit of the planets. Rather, it must be a frame from the computer simulation referred to in the article. William MeadowsDripping Springs, Texas Indeed, the image reflects the […]
By Science News -
AstronomyPlanet potential
Observations with the Submillimeter Array on Hawaii's Mauna Kea reveal that, despite their bombardment by a stellar bully, the disks in Orion have enough material to form planets.
By Ron Cowen -
PhysicsWhy isn’t the sky violet, Daddy?
A new analysis of why the sky looks blue reveals that the reason may be the combined effects of the atmosphere and of our eyes' color-sensing apparatus.
By Peter Weiss -
Bipolar kids harbor unique brain trait
Children and teenagers with bipolar disorder, a severe mental ailment that involves sharp mood swings, display unusually low tissue volume in a brain area involved in learning to regulate emotions.
By Bruce Bower -
PhysicsIn search of the imperfect nanocrystal
Semiconductor nanocrystals can incorporate property-enhancing impurities into their growing structures as long as the crystals have facets onto which such atoms can strongly adhere.
By Peter Weiss -
EarthWeighty evidence on testicular cancer
New evidence supports a theory that men who were exposed to excess estrogenic hormones at an early stage of fetal development may face an elevated risk of testicular cancer.
By Ben Harder -
AstronomyA new X-ray eye on the cosmos
To study some of the hottest regions in the universe, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency has launched the coldest instrument ever flown.
By Ron Cowen -
ArchaeologyJudeo-Christian ties buried in Rome
New radiocarbon dates from one of ancient Rome's underground cemeteries, or catacombs, indicates that these structures were built in the Jewish community more than a century before early Christians started to do the same.
By Bruce Bower -
Cell death may spur aging
Genetic mutations in cells' internal powerhouses could contribute to aging by stifling tissue maintenance.
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HumansPushing Drugs
Pharmaceutical marketing toward both patients and physicians appears to influence which medicines get prescribed.
By Ben Harder