Uncategorized
- Chemistry
Faster, Better, Cleaner?
Chemists have found that a new class of compounds, called ionic liquids, can substitute for widely used, messy organic solvents while also performing better and producing new products of interest to industry.
- Health & Medicine
Gene implicated in deadly influenza
A strain of influenza virus that struck in Hong Kong in 1997 got some of its lethality from a mutation in the gene encoding an enzyme called PB2.
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The article says that evidence of past climate variations in Antarctica may invalidate global warming as a cause for the recent demise of several ice shelves in that area. Isn’t the length of time over which the changes occurred the critical thing? If the changes are occurring over roughly the same time span as they […]
- Earth
Antarctic sediments muddy climate debate
Ocean-floor sediments drilled from Antarctic regions recently covered by ice shelves suggest that those shelves were much younger than scientists had previously thought.
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Glutamate paths surface in schizophrenia
Three new studies indicate that altered transmission of glutamate, a key brain chemical, plays an influential role in the severe mental disorder known as schizophrenia.
- Animals
Even deep down, the right whales don’t sink
A right whale may weigh some 70 tons, but unlike other marine mammals studied so far, it tends to float rather than sink at great depths.
- Health & Medicine
Arteries may be vulnerable to HIV attack
HIV may directly interact with cells in arteries, predisposing people to heart attacks.
- Chemistry
Feline stimulant fends off mosquitoes
Preliminary results suggest that catnip may be more effective at repelling mosquitoes than the widely used chemical DEET.
- Astronomy
Galaxy’s Black Hole: X Rays Mark Spot
An X-ray outburst from the center of our galaxy is providing compelling new evidence that a monster black hole lurks at the Milky Way's core.
- Health & Medicine
Immunity’s Eyes
Proteins called toll-like receptors allow human immune cells to detect microbes.
- Earth
Aircraft spies on health of coral reefs
Marine ecologists report the development of a new remote-sensing system that can assess the health of coral reefs from planes.
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A tip of the tongue to the brain
Researchers have identified several brain areas that together underlie the experience of feeling certain that a piece of forgotten information is nonetheless on the tip of one's tongue.
