All Stories
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Using the smallest words for the biggest concepts
Many people think that big scientific concepts require big, complex words. A new book shows that — in some cases — simple words work just as well.
- Animals
Using dolphins to find unknown ocean pollutants
Long-lasting pollutants may threaten marine mammals and human health. To find those pollutants, scientists are sampling blubber, then running the fatty material through new types of tests.
- Life
Cell recount: People host far fewer germs
Since the 1970s, microbiologists have been saying bacteria outnumber human cells in our bodies by about 10-to-1. A new analysis says that old number was a “fake” fact — and gross exaggeration.
- Materials Science
Wet suits with hair?
The dense hair that keeps sea otters warm in frigid waters may inspire development of “furry” wet suits for scuba divers.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Solution
In math, this is just the answer to your problem. In chemistry, this word means something else entirely.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: What is skin?
The body’s soft, outer armor contains three layers, each with its own important role to play.
- Health & Medicine
Minty fresh zits treatment?
Some nontraditional acne treatments work at cleaning up pimples.
- Health & Medicine
The truth about zits
A common bacterium called P. acnes usually helps keep the skin healthy. But under some conditions, and especially during puberty, it can trigger painful, embarrassing outbreaks of unsightly pimples.
- Planets
Beyond Pluto: A new 9th planet?
A giant planet, perhaps 10 times Earth’s mass, may be orbiting the sun from a great distance. Its existence, orbit and size are all surmised, based on strange effects seen in objects within the distant Kuiper Belt.
- Health & Medicine
HIV testing remains low among teens
HIV rates in people ages 13 to 24 are increasing, but few teens and young adults are being tested for the virus.
- Climate
2015 was really hot
Spurred by global warming and a “super” strong El Niño, 2015 went into the books as the warmest year since record-keeping began — and that was 1880.
- Genetics
Behavior of genes could identify type of infection
The behavior of hundreds of genes can identify a viral infection, a new study finds. That could help doctors determine treatment for a sick patient.
