Uncategorized
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Archaeology
Wild Chimps Rocked On: Apes left unique record of stone tools
Researchers have uncovered the first archaeological site attributed to chimpanzees, which includes stone implements that were used to crack nuts on top of thick tree roots.
By Bruce Bower -
Icy Birth? Amino acids form in simulations of space ice
Two experiments simulating the environment of interstellar space have produced amino acids—the building blocks of proteins.
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Health & Medicine
X rays tell stirring tale about fat
X rays reveal how food processing shapes microscopic crystals of edible fats.
By Peter Weiss -
Tech
Sowing neat rows of seeds on silicon
A new way to introduce foreign atoms into silicon with atomic-scale precision may help chip manufacturers over a looming hurdle.
By Peter Weiss -
Astronomy
Repainting the cosmic palette
After all the hue and cry about the color of the universe, astronomers have now revised their findings: It’s not pale green, but boring old beige.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & Medicine
Researchers find how rhubarb remedy eases cholera
Researchers in Japan have identified a natural compound responsible for the effectiveness of one rhubarb-based remedy to combat the overwhelming diarrhea that comes with cholera.
By Nathan Seppa -
Planetary Science
Mars Odyssey instrument revived
Flight controllers have revived an instrument on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft that measures the amount of radiation bombarding the Martian surface.
By Ron Cowen -
Earth
Rocks in Earth’s mantle could hold five oceans
Analysis of minerals created in the laboratory under conditions that simulate those deep within the planet suggests that the zone of rocks just outside Earth's core could hold enough water to fill the oceans five times.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Zooplankton diet of mercury varies
By modeling a lake ecosystem in large tubs of water, researchers have found that zooplankton—an important link in the food chain—consume much less toxic methylmercury when the lake experiences an algal bloom.
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Animals
Lemonade from Broken Amber
The fossilized microbes found inside termites that have been encased in amber for 20 million years are remarkably similar to those found within the ancient insects' modern cousins.
By Sid Perkins -
Tech
Taming High-Tech Particles
Researchers are beginning to study whether nanomaterials could have unintended negative consequences in the human body or the environment.
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From the March 26, 1932, issue
EASTER LILY UNFOLDS TALE TO X-RAY’S PIERCING EYE Ordinarily it is necessary to pull a flower to pieces to find what it is doing at any given moment in its development–and that, naturally, precludes one from following its development any further. One must turn to other flowers, at other stages of their unfolding, and ruin […]
By Science News