Uncategorized
- Math
Strange Orbits
Like toy cars chasing each other on a looped racetrack, three stars can, in principle, trace out a figure-eight orbit in space. This newly discovered, mathematically surprising pattern of motion arises from the force of gravity acting on three bodies of equal mass. Their movements are timed so that each body in turn passes between […]
- Earth
Lasers show atmosphere differs from models
New observations of the middle and upper atmosphere over Earth's polar regions may require scientists to revamp their mathematical models of temperature and other environmental conditions at high altitudes.
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Tapeworms tell tales of deeper human past
A new analysis of tapeworm history suggests that people have been wrong about where we picked up pests: It was not domestication of cattle and pigs but increased meat eating in Africa.
- Health & Medicine
Immune cells rush to gut in food allergy
In mice, allergic reactions to food coincide with an accumulation of white blood cells called eosinophils in the small intestine.
- Tech
Optical biopsy hunts would-be cancers
A new optical tool allows physicians to scout for precancerous tissue by analyzing the fluorescent responses of cells when light is shone on them.
- Astronomy
A comet’s odd orbit hints at hidden planet
Far beyond the solar system's nine known planets, a body as massive as Mars may once have been part of our planetary system, and it might still be there.
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Fungi slay insects and feed host plants
Researchers are discovering that some plants get their nutrients by robbing nitrogen from the flesh of soil-dwelling insects.
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RNA world gets support as prelife scenario
Scientists tinkering with a chemical now vital to life think they've recreated one of the central molecules that gave rise to the chemistry of life.
- Anthropology
Early Brazilians Unveil African Look
Prehistoric human skulls found in Brazil share some traits with modern Africans, leading a Brazilian scientist to theorize that Africans rather than Asians first arrived in the Americas sometime before 11,000 years ago.
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18924
“Early Brazilians unveil African look” was a very interesting article containing an interesting idea. But some of us guessed the connection all along. Check out Olmec-age stones heads [in the Americas]. These images are African. However, it’s a good bet that migration came from both Asia and Africa. Gloria Harrison Raleigh, N.C.
- Astronomy
A Dark Force in the Universe
Cosmologists are thinking dark thoughts about what kind of mystery force may be contorting the cosmos, pushing galaxies apart at a faster and faster rate.
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Do eggs go cuckoo under UV light?
People don't see ultraviolet light but birds do, so studies of egg mimickry may need to stop relying so much on human vision.
