Uncategorized
- Health & Medicine
Zika virus raises alarm as it spreads in the Americas
Zika virus has been in Africa and Asia for decades. But is has now spread to the Americas. And it may cause a devastating birth defect.
- Animals
Why some penguin feathers never freeze
Oil and tiny pores prevent the feathers on some penguins from freezing. The discovery could inspire new ways to keep ice off of airplane wings.
- 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.
