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Chemistry

Sensor sniffs out spoiled fish

A new electronic nose detects amine compounds produced when fish decay.

Chemistry

Air knocks the wind out of nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes are very sensitive to oxygen, an effect that could limit their use in open-air applications.

Chemistry

Heat spurs growth of tiny carbon trees

Microscopic carbon forests can grow on a graphite surface without the help of catalysts.

Health & Medicine

Coagulation factor XI boosts clot risk

People who have had a major blood clot in a vein are roughly twice as likely to harbor high concentrations of blood coagulation factor XI as people who haven't.

Health & Medicine

Myopia link to night lights doubted

Two studies cast doubt on the apparent link between night lights in a baby's nursery and an increased risk of being nearsighted later in childhood.

Astronomy

X-ray telescope vanishes

Astro-E, a Japanese X-ray observatory, fell back to Earth and burned up just after launch on Feb. 9.

Planetary Science

Unveiling Mars’ watery secret

A new gravity map of Mars has revealed a network of buried channels that billions of years ago may have been on the surface and helped carry water to fill an ancient ocean.

Astronomy

Craft spies new class of gamma-ray sources

Roughly half the 120 unidentified sources of high-energy gamma-ray emissions in the Milky Way—those at midgalactic latitudes—may comprise a new class of objects and originate from a belt of massive stars that lies only a few hundred light-years from the solar system.

Agriculture

Toxic bugs taint large numbers of cattle

U.S. cattle have dramatically higher rates of infection with a virulent food-poisoning bacterium than had been realized, a factor that leads to widespread carcass contamination during slaughter.

Tech

Coming soon: Knavish electromagnetic acts

Scientists have created a device with bizarre electromagnetic properties—but so far, only at microwave frequencies.