Uncategorized

  1. Health & Medicine

    Guggul extract fails its cholesterol test

    Guggul extract, long used in parts of Asia and gaining popularity in Western countries as a weapon against high cholesterol, does not appear to work.

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  2. Planetary Science

    A warmer, fluffier Pluto

    Although Pluto has been receding from the sun for more than a decade, planetary scientists have now found that between 1988 and 2002, Pluto’s atmosphere has nearly doubled in size and its temperature has increased by about 1 degree C.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Viruses, but not bacteria, tied to mental decline

    Past infection by multiple common viruses may contribute to cognitive decline in some elderly people.

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  4. Tech

    High-flying wing destroyed in crash

    The unmanned NASA aircraft that holds the world record for high-altitude flight without rocket propulsion recently broke up over the Pacific Ocean.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Drug reduces risks for dialysis patients

    Kidney-dialysis patients getting the vitamin D drug paricalcitol survive longer than those getting a similar medication called calcitriol.

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  6. Astronomy

    Stellar speed limit

    Ripples in the fabric of space-time may put the brakes on the fastest-spinning stars in the universe and prevent them from flying apart.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Predicting Prostate Cancer’s Moves

    To guide treatment decisions in individual cases of prostate cancer, medical researchers are using gene-expression profiling and other novel techniques to develop better predictive markers of how a given tumor will behave.

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  8. Earth

    On Shifting Ground

    In earthquake-prone areas of the United States and elsewhere in the world, debates go on over whether—and how much—to reinforce buildings.

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  9. Humans

    From the August 19, 1933, issue

    CONSTRUCTION BEGUN ON 80-INCH TEXAS TELESCOPE The giant 80-inch reflecting telescope that will spy upon the stars from McDonald Observatory, to be erected on a peak of Davis Mountains, Texas, is now under construction. A contract for the telescope has been approved by the University of Texas board of regents, and Warner and Swasey Company […]

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  10. Planetary Science

    Mars Encounter

    On Aug. 27, Mars and Earth will be closer to each other than at any other time in the last 50,000 years. Amateur astronomers with small backyard telescopes can already view features such as dust clouds, the southern polar ice cap (because the southern cap is tipped toward Earth), and volcanic terrain. This NASA Web […]

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  11. Math

    Golf Clubs and Driving Distance

    The last 20 years have seen remarkable changes in golf equipment: metal-headed drivers, forgiving irons, new putter variants, juiced golf balls, and more. Have these technology changes led to improved performance? Anecdotal evidence certainly points to such improvements. In 1980, for example, the leader in driving distance on the Professional Golfers of America (PGA) Tour […]

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  12. 19337

    Your article worries that hydrogen-fuel leakage may add to stratospheric ozone problems. Doesn’t that presuppose that the hydrogen for fuel is generated from a fossil source? What if the hydrogen is generated from air, seawater, or biomass? Clark WaiteDescanso, Calif. The source of the extra hydrogen molecules doesn’t matter, says geochemist John M. Eiler of […]

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