5,016 results
- Humans
Mother lode
Certain sugar molecules in human breast milk do more to foster beneficial microbes, and banish harmful ones, than they do to nourish newborns.
- Math
Flatland and its sequel bring the math of higher dimensions to the silver screen
In 1884, Edwin Abbott wrote a strange and enchanting novella called Flatland, in which a square who lives in a two-dimensional world comes to comprehend the existence of a third dimension but is unable to persuade his compatriots of his discovery. Through the book, Abbott skewered hierarchical Victorian values while simultaneously giving a glimpse of […]
- Math
Systems biology tunes in to cancer networks
If cable TV systems had a channel called The Cancer Network, doctors would be wise to tune in. But there’s no such channel. So for now, they’ll just have to read articles in scientific journals that publish papers on the science of networks. Scientists in the new field of systems biology have made a lot […]
- Health & Medicine
Ovarian cancer drug candidate passes early clinical test
An experimental medicine that uses a seek-and-destroy design to kill tumor cells may help some patients who face a recurrence.
- Humans
Group size affects racial makeup of friend groups
Larger settings seem to promote segregation, simulation finds.
- Humans
Obama unveils brain science program
Initiative would develop tools to measure coordinated neuron activity.
- Chemistry
Gold-digging microbe
By spitting out a molecule, a bacterium draws solid gold out of solution.
- Humans
Web searches for money words anticipate market moves
Dow drops follow weeks when more people search Google for ‘debt’ or ‘stocks.’
- Humans
International Conference on Complex Sciences
Researchers at the meeting, held December 5-7 in Santa Fe, N.M., offer insight into spam blocking and sick leave.
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Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep by David K. Randall
A journalist with unusual sleep habits seeks to learn why we slumber and how sleeping — or not — affects thoughts, behavior and health. W.W. Norton & Co., 2012, 290 p., $25.95
- Math
A field where breakthroughs are hard to come by produces two big advances on a single day
Problems in number theory often have a certain exasperating charm: They are extraordinarily simple to state, but so difficult to prove that centuries of effort haven’t sufficed to crack them. So it’s pretty remarkable that on one day this May, mathematicians announced results on two of these mathematical conundrums. Both proofs address one of the […]
- Space
Moon probes set for smashing end
NASA to guide gravity-seeking spacecraft into the side of a lunar cliff.
