Uncategorized
- Health & Medicine
A Pap smear can scoop up fetal cells for genome testing
Pap smear during pregnancy could offer an early way to test for fetal genetic disorders.
By Meghan Rosen - Archaeology
For some early monks, impaired hearing amplified sounds of silence
Middle-ear ailments probably had little impact on early Christian monks’ lives.
By Bruce Bower - Paleontology
Cretaceous bird find holds new color clue
New molecular clues in 130-million-year-old bird fossil could help paleontologists firm up case for ancient color in dinosaurs.
By Meghan Rosen - Animals
Brazilian free-tailed bats are the fastest fliers
Ultrafast flying by one bat species leaves birds in the dust.
- Humans
Oldest alphabet identified as Hebrew
Contested study indicates ancient Israelites developed first alphabet from Egyptian hieroglyphics.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
An echidna’s to-do list: Sleep. Eat. Dig up Australia.
Short-beaked echidna’s to-do list looks good for a continent losing other digging mammals.
By Susan Milius - Physics
Whirlpools might have stirred up baby universe’s soup
Vortices appear in the quark-gluon plasma produced in heavy-ion collisions.
- Plants
Tweaking how plants manage a crisis boosts photosynthesis
Shortening plants’ recovery time after blasts of excessive light can boost crop growth.
By Susan Milius - Earth
How a ring of mountains forms inside a crater
Rocks drilled from the Chicxulub crater linked to the demise of the dinosaurs reveal how mountainous peak rings form within large impact craters.
- Astronomy
Mysterious radio signals pack power and brilliance
The brightest fast radio burst has been detected, while another team reveals a previous burst might have carried gamma rays as well as radio waves across space.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, fluoridation was promoted as a bone protector
In 1966, scientists hoped fluoride might protect adult bone health. While the results broke down over time, the benefits for teeth remain clear.
- Health & Medicine
Heartburn drugs may raise stroke risk
Drugs used by millions for heartburn linked to increased risk of stroke.
By Laura Beil