Uncategorized
- Astronomy
Cosmic Twist: X’s may mark spots where black holes merge
If whacked by a companion black hole, a big, jet-emitting black hole may spew superhot plasma in a new, crosswise direction.
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Resilient DNA: Gene may brighten future for abused kids
A long-term study in New Zealand indicates that a genetic variation associated with high concentrations of certain brain chemicals protects abused children from becoming violent and impulsive later in life.
- Earth
West Coast Shimmy: Smack from space triggered landslides along Pacific Coast
Scientists say they've found the first evidence along the Pacific Coast of massive landslides triggered by the impact from space 65 million years ago that's suspected to have wiped out the dinosaurs.
- Health & Medicine
Fat Chance: Cancer drugs may also thwart obesity
Drugs now undergoing testing as a cancer therapy because they thwart new blood vessel growth may also be a treatment for obesity.
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Sleep hits pothole on lonely street
Researchers have found that extremely lonely people get a poor night's sleep, a factor that may contribute to the link between loneliness and elevated incidence of physical illness and death.
- Earth
Study links dioxin to breast cancer
A new study finds support for the long-proposed hypothesis that dioxin, a hormonelike pollutant, can trigger breast cancer in heavily exposed women.
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Corporal punishment takes research hit
A review of 88 studies concludes that corporal punishment, such as spanking, yields no psychological or behavioral benefits for children and may prove harmful in some cases.
- Astronomy
An assault on comets
Over the next few years, a trio of comet missions, one of which was launched recently, promises to provide the closet look yet at the core of these icy relics from the formation of the solar system.
- Health & Medicine
Viral Survivor
Epstein-Barr virus, the cause of diseases ranging from mononucleosis to several kinds of cancer, has begun to reveal how it enters human cells and protects itself from the immune system.
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19097
This article gives the incorrect and highly misleading definition of how wood preservatives work: by releasing “toxins into the water, killing everything nearby.” False. The treated wood itself becomes unpalatable to these organisms. Leaching does occur, but the literature is full of conflicting results as to the extent of the effect. Ironically, probably the most […]
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Return of a Castaway
Wood-eating shipworms have been forging a costly comeback in some U.S. harbors in recent years, yet researchers say that these mislabeled animals (they're clams, not worms) are a scientific treasure.
- Math
Home Runs and Ballparks
When baseball slugger Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hit his record-breaking, 62nd home run on Sept. 8, 1998, the ball barely passed over the left field fence at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The same hit would not have been a home run at, say, Fenway Park in Boston. This episode suggests an […]
