Uncategorized

Chemistry

Fluorine atoms used to cut nanotubes

Researchers have found that they can cut carbon nanotubes into short, potentially useful pieces using a technique for adding groups of atoms to nanotubes.

Chemistry

Unlikely ion made in lab

Chemists have created a molecule—the pentamethylcyclopentadienyl cation—that many researchers thought was too unstable to exist long enough to be identified or studied.

Animals

Rebranding the Hyena

Zoologists are hoping that long-term ecological studies of the spotted hyena will assist in dispelling the animal's undeservedly bad reputation.

Health & Medicine

Mammograms on Trial

New controversy about old data has physicians, women, and policy analysts struggling to decide whether all women should be screened with mammography in order to reduce deaths due to breast cancer.

Astronomy

Strange Stars? Odd features hint at novel matter

Two stellar corpses thought to be made of neutrons may actually contain weird forms of matter never observed before.

Animals

Big-Eyed Birds Sing Early Songs: Dawn chorus explained

Researchers report a strong relationship between eye size and the light intensity at which birds start to sing in the morning.

Materials Science

Membrane Mastery: Nanosize silica speeds up sieve

A novel modification to polymer membranes gives researchers a means to tune certain filters so they separate molecules more quickly and more selectively.

Health & Medicine

Cardiac Culprit: Autopsies implicate C-reactive protein in fatal heart attacks

Of people who died suddenly, those who succumbed to a heart attack had an abundance of the inflammation indicator C-reactive protein in the blood, even though few had had outward signs of heart problems.