Uncategorized
- Astronomy
Alien Light: Extrasolar planets are detected in new way
Two teams of scientists report that they have for the first time directly detected the glow of planets that circle sunlike stars hundreds of light-years from Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Paleontology
Old Softy: Tyrannosaurus fossil yields flexible tissue
Scientists analyzing fragments of a Tyrannosaurus rex's leg bone have recovered soft, pliable material, including structures that apparently are cells and blood vessels.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Plants take bite out of deadly snake venoms
A Nigerian pharmacologist has found in local plants a potential antidote to some of the world's most deadly snake venoms.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Flame retardants spark new concern
Breakdown products in brominated flame retardants, traces of which circulate in the blood of most people, may perturb the normal production of reproductive hormones, a new test-tube study suggests.
By Janet Raloff - Earth
Paint additive hammers coral
A pesticidal additive in the paint applied to ship hulls may be contributing to the worldwide decline of corals.
By Janet Raloff - Humans
Letters from the March 26, 2005, issue of Science News
Sleeper issue “Goodnight moon, hello Mom and Dad” (SN: 1/22/05, p. 61) attributes behaviors of earlier bedtime, longer sleeping, and earlier weaning to “greater personal independence” in children who sleep alone. It is equally possible that these behaviors are due to something else. Research predicting which children and families will benefit from co-sleeping or alone […]
By Science News - Animals
Ant larvae sway to say, ‘Feed me!’
The most detailed study yet of body language of ant larvae translates a swaying motion as begging for food and a chance at a better future.
By Susan Milius - Planetary Science
Jupiter as mirror for the sun’s X rays
X rays emanating from Jupiter's midriff actually originate on the sun, new observations show.
By David Shiga -
19532
I am troubled by the conclusion drawn in this article. The report says that college-educated adults do better on memory tests, displaying pronounced frontal brain activity, than do their less-educated peers. Might it not be just as reasonable to hypothesize that those who are able to “recruit the frontal brain into a memory system” do […]
By Science News -
College may endow memory to old brains
College-educated older adults recruit new brain areas to counteract some of the memory loss that occurs with aging, a new brain-imaging study suggests.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
New protease inhibitor looks promising
An antiretroviral drug under development may work in patients for whom existing drugs fall short.
By Ben Harder - Astronomy
Too Darn Hot
A new theory of planet formation suggests that sizzling-hot Earths may be abundant throughout the galaxy and could soon be detected.
By Ron Cowen