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"Long before it's in the papers"
May 17, 2013
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Men want status from romantic relationships, research finds
A set of surveys suggests men and women get self-esteem from relationships in different ways.
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Killed twice in 1600s, hoax “dragon” slain again—in creationism dispute
Scientists say they’ve proven what some suspected three centuries ago: the swamp dragon from Rome was a hoax. And maybe now it matters more.
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Yes, gentlemen, size matters—but something else matters more, study finds
Scientists assessed how penis size, body height and body shape interact to influence female rankings of male allure.
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Babies may be drawn to those who mistreat the “different”
Researchers report new evidence that hard-to-eradicate biases based on race, sex and other differences take root early in life.
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Your brain cells may be capable of outliving you—by a lot
New findings make scientists hopeful that if human lifespan is
increased, brain cells will cooperate by living longer accordingly.
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Chimps
found to play fairness game like people
In some important ways, chimps may have more human-like concepts of fairness
than previously recognized, biologists say.
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For signs of life, some strange planetary systems may be most promising
Atmospheric chemicals betraying the presence of alien life might be detectable
around white dwarf stars, a study says.
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Did some Neanderthals learn advanced skills from “moderns”?
Surprisingly, some Neanderthal people seem to have made body ornaments
and sophisticated tools, a study reports.
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Theory that cooking gave us big brains gains support
New research backs up a theory that the advent of cooking almost two
million years ago enabled humans to get smarter.
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Friendliness to minorities may often be a performance—a fragile one
Many whites behave extra nicely to minorities, but it’s often an act
that arises from a sense of obligation, new research suggests.
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Gospel
of Matthew linked to trail of bizarre self-mutilations
A particular set of verses from a book in the Bible has created consternation
among some medical professionals.
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“Racial purity” DNA testing
slammed as perversion, but halting practice might not be easy
A politician has sparked outrage after reportedly taking a DNA
test for a shocking purpose. But just where the red line lies is not widely
agreed upon.
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Moral “taint” still seeps along familial lines
We are still blamed to some degree for the misdeeds of our relatives, according
to a set of newly reported surveys.
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American heads have been changing shape, but why?
White people’s heads in the United States have gotten taller and narrower
since the days the steamship was king, research indicates.
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Cold case solved? Study probes riddle of sinking beer bubbles
Bubbles in dark beer are seen to slide downward, ironically, because
they’re trying to head upward, a study reports.
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Move elephants into Australia, scientist proposes
Does the Land Down Under need an infusion of large mammals to solve its ecological
and wildfire problems?
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Was blackmail essential for marriage to evolve?
A study takes a cold new look at a custom as ancient and firmly established
as it is sacred to millions.
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A human bias against creativity is hindering science, research claims
Most of us love creativity—until it actually comes knocking, some
psychologists say.
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Pluto has even colder “twin” of similar size, studies find
A “dwarf planet” orbiting our sun three times further away than
Pluto is about the size of that better-known, frigid world, astronomers
say.
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Could
simple anger have taught people to cooperate?
A new study challenges one of the leading theories as a solution for
an evolutionary puzzle.
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Different cultures’ music matches their speech styles, study finds
Researchers have debated for years what the biological basis
of music might be.
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Your
parrot isn’t just parroting, study suggests
While
many owners will attest that pet parrots have a purpose in their talking,
the subject was little studied before recently.
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Music
making may help keep mind in tune in old age
Longtime playing of a musical instrument may help keep your mind
sharp as others’ start going flat, research suggests.
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Tiny
bugs have own personalities despite being clones, scientists say
Tiny green insects known as pea aphids have individual behavior
patterns, or “personalities,” a study reports.
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Does a smile mean something to a dog?
Dogs can learn to tell apart smiles from blank expressions in photos of
people, a study has found.
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Why do men use silly pickup lines?
A new study assesses the psychology and success rates of various gambits
by which men try to get women’s attention.
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"Forests" detectable even in distant solar systems, scientists suggest
Once humans start imaging Earth-like planets in other solar systems,
tree-like life forms might also be detectable, a study proposes.
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Bars may kill spiral galaxies
Some lovely cosmic structures may eventually come undone, say researchers
aided by citizen volunteers.
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MORE NEWS =
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Cotton may offer “eco-friendly” way to clean up oil spills
A cheap form of raw cotton reportedly can sop up more than 30 times its weight in oil.
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New principle may help explain why nature is quantum
Like children, scientists are always asking “why?” One question they’ve yet to answer is why nature picked quantum physics.
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Study may overturn thinking on human intellect
The human edge in intelligence isn’t due mainly to the large size of the front part of our
brain, new research indicates.
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Moon, Earth water traced to same source: ancient meteorites
The moon’s water, like Earth’s, came from small, primitive meteorites in the first 100 million years or so of the solar system, researchers
say.
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Anti-cocaine vaccine getting ready for prime time
Preliminary tests are done and human testing should begin within a year,
scientists report.
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Scientists boost cellular “trash collection” to gives flies extra life
Biologists say they have identified a genetic process that could eventually help humans.
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Blocking single gene makes cancer cells nicer, study finds
The gene is normally supposed to be turned off long before we’re born.
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Stem cells found to cure epilepsy in mice
A study is said to be the first reported in which treatment ended seizures mice with a rodent version of adult epilepsy.
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DNA similarities increasingly seen in different cancers
A large study of endometrial cancer hints at new ways to classify tumors that might aid treatment, scientists say.
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Stunning new view of Saturn storm shows eye about the size of India
The first close-up views of a gigantic hurricane at Saturn’s north pole could help us understand Earth hurricanes too, scientists say.
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Moon blamed in death of US Civil War general
Stonewall Jackson has gone down in legend as a hero of the South, but his friendly-fire death has fueled long debate.
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Empathy processes seen lacking in psychopaths’ brains
Prisoners who are psychopaths lack the basic brain processes that let them care for others, according to a study.
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To understand far-off worlds, astronomer looks closer to home
Scientists are betting that comparing distant, planet-hosting stars to better-known ones nearby could help reveal their properties.
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Carrying baby leads to comfort—from mice to people, study says
Mothers’ carrying of babies to calm them down is a ritual that has worked throughout a long evolutionary period, research suggests.
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Bacteria may help pummel one of toughest cancers
A weakened, radioactive strain of bacteria killed tumor cells in mice with pancreatic cancer, researchers report.
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Depression-like symptoms seen in flies
Animals faced with impossible circumstances often hunker down in a condition called learned helplessness.
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“Earth-like,” possibly habitable planets identified
Researchers say they have identified the first fairly Earth-sized planets in a Sun-like star’s “habitable zone.”
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DNA of “living fossil” decoded
The African coelacanth is thought to be one of the closer living relatives of the first land-walking, four-legged animals.
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“Tantalizing hint” of dark matter particles
Physicists said they found with 99.8 certainty a particle of a type theorized to make up a mysterious portion of the universe.
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Inedible plant material may be convertible to food
Researchers say they have managed to turn an inedible plant material called cellulose into starch.
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Study tracks “rain” from Saturn’s rings
Water drops from Saturn’s rings more extensively than previously thought, a study finds.
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NASA plan to grab asteroid could spur other technologies, too
An ambitious new proposal could also drive development of technologies to save Earth from asteroids and to explore deeper space.
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Laziness genes possibly found
Scientists have added a new twist to the argument over whether obesity stems from laziness or an unfortunate mix of genes.
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More evidence of swimming dinos reported
Dinosaurs including an ancestral form of T. rex may have been able to paddle long distances, research suggests.
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New heart disease-red meat link also involves popular supplement
A compound plentiful in red meat and added as a supplement to popular energy drinks has been found to promote atherosclerosis.
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3-D view inside proton may be coming into focus
Physicists are measuring how the most basic known particles—quarks—are arranged to make up pieces of the atomic nucleus.
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Dream-reading machine in the works?
Scientists have applied computer processing to brain scans to see what images pop up in sleeping people’s heads.
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Simulations may reveal how galaxies become spiral
How galaxies like ours get and maintain their characteristic arms has proved to be an enduring puzzle.
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Buddhists are right: meditation makes you kinder, scientists say
Meditators in a controlled study were found more apt to become that nice stranger who steps forward to help when no one else will.
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Scientists use robots to replicate ant colony behavior
New experiments show that ants don’t need great smarts to navigate efficiently, researchers say.
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A new way to lose weight?
Mice were found to quickly shed weight when implanted with gut microbes from other mice that had undergone gastric bypass.
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How one microscopic creature juggles seven sexes
Biologists say they have figured out how nature determines which of seven sexes a newborn Tetrahymena is assigned.
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“Near-death
experience” memories found to share qualities with true ones
The mystical, meaningful experiences sometimes described by survivors
of close brushes with death have long fascinated scientists.
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Who pays for sex, anyway? New findings offer surprises
Most men don’t visit prostitutes, yet those who do seem to be pretty typical
guys, a U.S. study suggests.
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Dodos
weren’t alone: Huge bird die-off blamed on ancient man
The last region on colonized by people harbored more than 1,000 species
of birds that then died out, a study says.
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In earliest image of cosmos, “strange” features
The most accurate map ever made of the oldest light in the universe reveals
some surprises, astronomers report.
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First
man-made object may have left solar system—or not
The Voyager 1 spacecraft may have escaped the Sun’s zone of influence,
a study says, but not all agree.
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Newborn stars make a splash with astronomers
The findings bring scientists “closer to witnessing the moment
when a star begins to form,” one says.
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“Black
Death” could return in force, study warns
Antibiotic-resistant strains of a bac-ter-ium that decimated medieval
peoples are being called a serious concern.
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Scientists said to clone embryos of extinct frog
Although “Jurassic Park” may be impossible, scientists hope to revive
some extinct species through cloning technology.
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Mars rover finds conditions once suited for life
An analysis of a sample collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover
suggests ancient Mars could have supported living microbes.
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Hidden
stellar companions revealed almost next door
A pair of newly discovered stars is the third-closest star system to us,
and might harbor planets, according to a report.
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Using magic tricks to study the brain
An engineer is using his expertise with magic to research the
brain’s powers of perception and memory.
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Scientists
report breaking barrier to efficient cloning
Sequential cloning—making copies of copies, and so forth—may be no
longer be the problem it has been.
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| World
Science Archive
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X-ray view of an
ancient blast This new image
from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory reveals details of the remnant of an
explosion first witnessed from Earth in 1006.
When the blast—of a type now known as a Type Ia supernova—first appeared, it far
outshone Venus and was visible
in daytime for weeks, documented by Chinese, Japanese, European
and Arab astronomers.
As the Space Age dawned in the 1960s, scientists launched instruments above the atmosphere to
watch the sky in wavelengths, or "colors," blocked from the ground, including X-rays.
Now, by overlapping ten different pointings of Chandra's field-of-view, astronomers
have stitched a cosmic tapestry of the debris field from the
blast, which blew up a white dwarf star. Astronomers use freshly
occurring Type Ia
supernovas as mileposts to track the expansion of the Universe. In this image, low, medium, and higher-energy X-rays are colored red, green, and blue respectively.
(Credit: NASA/CXC/Middle College/F.Winkler)
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Hundreds injured as meteor fireball screams across the sky in Russia (AP)
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