Life
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Life
Wine find
Cell tests suggest that resveratrol, the substance that seems to account for the healthful effects of red wine, might have antiobesity effects, too.
By Nathan Seppa -
Archaeology
Resurrection of a biblical tree
Date palm pit found at Masada sprouts at age 2,000, becoming the oldest known seed to germinate.
By Amy Maxmen -
Health & Medicine
No babies, no hormones
A radically different form of contraception would prevent pregnancies with small molecules of RNA.
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Humans
Wash Your Veggies!
The lesson in all of these food-poisoning outbreaks is that we must not expect a risk-free food-supply chain.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
Virus versus virus
Customized RNA snippets delivered by a harmless virus could someday provide a new way to combat the hepatitis B virus.
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Climate
Goldilocks tree leaves
Leaves mostly keep their cool (or warmth) wherever they live, a finding that might affect reconstructions of past climates.
By Susan Milius -
Physics
Life’s code in soap
The mathematics of soapy water yields some clues to the origin of the genetic code.
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Physics
Suction hunters
Scientists reveal new details on how extendable jaws help fish capture prey.
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Health & Medicine
Thanks for the pounds, Mom
When inherited from mom, a gene linked to obesity and diabetes interferes with blood sugar metabolism.
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Animals
Invasion of the salmon
Chinook salmon, dwindling in the United States, go wild in South America.
By Susan Milius -
Paleontology
Ancient burrows
Triassic-era sediments unearthed in Antarctica reveal the well-preserved lair of a four-legged, mammal-like reptile.
By Tia Ghose -
Paleontology
A mammoth divide
Woolly mammoths roamed Siberia in two distinct clans, and the split between the groups, scientists say, is surprisingly deep, occurring more than 1 million years ago.