More Stories from the October 5, 2013 issue
- Health & Medicine
Gut-brain communication failure may spur overeating
Restoring a depleted molecule in obese mice repaired their abnormal response to food.
- Astronomy
Pictures of young star show unusual outbursts
Ejections from stellar newborn move faster and in different directions than astronomers thought.
- Life
Bacteria can cause pain on their own
Microbes caused discomfort in mice by activating nerves, not the immune system.
- Animals
For sheep horns, bigger is not better
Trade-offs between studliness and survival keep less endowed sheep in the mix.
- Astronomy
To determine stars’ physical traits, Kepler sees the light
Measuring stellar brightness can yield useful estimates of stars' size and evolutionary stage, and help in the hunt for planets.
- Astronomy
‘Space beads’ push back origins of iron working
Ancient Egyptians used advanced techniques to make beads out of 'metal from the sky.'
- Psychology
Behavioral research may overstate results
'Soft' sciences inflate support for what scientists expected to find, data check suggests.
- Humans
Babies learn words before birth
Brain responses suggest infants can distinguish distinct words from altered versions that they learned in the womb.
- Life
A fight between gut parasites means a win for people
Worms and Giardia can antagonize each other in the human intestinal tract, study of people in the Amazon suggests.
- Life
Flu antibodies can make disease worse
Pigs vaccinated against one influenza virus got lung damage if infected with another strain.
- Climate
Global warming hiatus tied to cooler temps in Pacific
Average air temperatures' rise has paused, but not stopped, because of normal variation in ocean temperatures.
- Psychology
Poverty may tax thinking abilities
Scarce funds reduce mental abilities of U.S. shoppers and Indian farmers, experiments suggest.
- Astronomy
The sun’s older twin, 250 light-years away
Almost twice as ancient, the distant star gives a glimpse of the sun's future.
- Animals
Traveling with elders helps whooping cranes fly straight
Rare data show birds get more efficient the more they migrate along route between Wisconsin and Florida.
- Climate
No more Superstorm Sandys expected for a long time
Future conditions less likely to steer hurricanes directly into the East Coast, analysis suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Test could warn of problems for kidney transplant recipients
A urine test for an immune protein might tell doctors whether a patient is headed for trouble.
- Animals
New fungus species found killing salamanders
First there was amphibian killer fungus Bd. Now there's Bs.
- Neuroscience
Video game sharpens up elderly brains
Adults over 60 who played for several hours a month beat untrained 20-year-olds in racing game.
- Animals
Rats induced into hibernation-like state
Injection of compound causes animals to slow heartbeat, lower body temperature.
- Health & Medicine
Gut infections keep mice lean
Bacteria can invade one rodent from another, preventing both from getting fat.
- Health & Medicine
Device offers promise of no brain tumor left behind
A new technique might allow surgeons to identify with precision where brain cancer ends and healthy tissue begins.
- Humans
Babies perk up to sounds of ancient hazards
Evolution has primed infants to focus on noises linked to longstanding dangers, a new study finds.
- Chemistry
Meteorite that fell last year contains surprising molecules
Compounds in space rocks like the one that broke up over California may have helped seed life on Earth.
- Health & Medicine
Fructose may be key to weight gain
Mice that could not make or metabolize the sugar gained less weight than normal mice.
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- Space
Exploring Earth’s alien spaces
Nathalie Cabrol, a planetary geologist and astrobiologist at the SETI Institute’s Carl Sagan Center and NASA’s Ames Research Center, both in Mountain View, Calif., hunts for alien life.
- Life
Dangerous Digs
By properly managing a tumor cell’s microenvironment, cancer researchers are making cancer something people live with, not die from.
- Environment
Cool Idea
While nations concede a pressing need for attacking carbon dioxide emissions, other pollutants offer quicker paybacks.
- Life
Letters to the editor
Sleepless on a schedule, Edison's rubbery discovery and monogamy not just for men.
- Science & Society
Coming soon: Science News any way you want it
On October 2, we will launch a new and expanded Science News website. And starting with the October 19 issue, all print subscribers will have access to a new iPad version of Science News, at no additional charge. You’ll also notice a smart new look for the magazine.
- Cosmology
Huge Galactic Explosion
An excerpt from the October 5, 1963, issue of Science News Letter.
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