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  1. Physics

    Skipping stones 101

    Using their own stone-skipping machine, physicists have found what may be the best angle for a rock to hit the water in order to achieve the most skips.

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  2. Juggling takes stage as brain modifier

    Marked volume increases occur in visual areas of the brain as people learn to juggle and then are partly reversed when the budding jugglers stop practicing their newfound skill, a brain-scan investigation finds.

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  3. Physics

    New signs of shadow particles

    The influence of as-yet-undiscovered heavy particles outside of today's prevailing theory of particle physics may have accelerated the rate at which subatomic muons wobbled in a recent experiment.

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  4. Growth factors make an egg grow up

    Scientists have identified growth factors that enable a female mammal's eggs to mature.

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  5. Astronomy

    Scoping out a stellar nursery

    Penetrating a veil of dust, a space-based infrared observatory has recorded the most complete portrait ever taken of a star-forming region in a nearby galaxy.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis

    Women who consume little vitamin D develop multiple sclerosis at a rate about 50 percent higher than those who get lots of the nutrient.

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  7. Archaeology

    Lion skeleton found in Egyptian tomb

    Archaeologists found the skeleton of a once-mummified lion at an Egyptian site dating to more than 2,000 years ago, confirming suspicions that lions were revered as sacred animals.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Drug fails in autism study

    In the most extensive test so far of its capability to treat autism, the controversial drug secretin has failed to help children with the neurological disorder.

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  9. 19375

    This article, or at least part of it, could have been titled “Danger on Dock” or maybe “Danger under Dock.” After reading about how chromated-copper arsenate (CCA) is leached from the wood, I began wondering how it affects aquatic organisms. Many fish, especially bluegills and other sunfish, make these docks their preferred habitat. If not […]

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  10. Earth

    Danger on Deck?

    The Environmental Protection Agency no longer allows residential installation of pressure-treated lumber and recommends the application of sealant to prevent leaching of carcinogens out of existing lumber structures.

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  11. 19374

    Something jumped out at me from this article. It’s that there were no published data supporting the 50 percent rule taught for years in medical schools. I think this speaks volumes about science and medicine in this country. Charlie WelchBrighton, Mass. I’m confused. “Wine Surprise: Heart-protective effect is independent of antioxidants” (SN: 1/31/04, p. 68: […]

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Telltale Charts

    Overturning a basic tenet of conventional wisdom in cardiology, new research suggests that more than half the people who develop heart disease first show one of the warning signs of smoking, having diabetes, or having high blood pressure or cholesterol.

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