Docs Tout Safer, Non-Embryonic Stem Cells

Wavelengths cause chemical reaction, researchers find

(NEWSER) - Scientists have shed light on a new way to kill hospital superbugs like MRSA: literally shed light on them. A set of wavelengths called HINS-light acts by stimulating molecules in the bacteria, causing them to create chemicals that kill the germs. In trials, the process appears far more effective than “cleaning and disinfection,” the Daily Mail reports. More»

16-foot creatures could traverse continents: scientists

(NEWSER) - Scientists think they’ve finally figured out how a dinosaur the size of a giraffe was able to soar through the air: It used its huge wings to pole-vault, the Daily Mail reports. Researchers from the UK and US say their theory trumps longstanding claims that pterosaurs couldn’t possibly fly. That belief stemmed from the fact that the majority of birds run to pick up speed, jumping then flapping like mad—a maneuver the massive pterosaur couldn't perform. But these anatomically unique animals had "a distinctly different skeletal structure, wing proportions, and muscle mass," says one of the palaeontologists behind the discovery. More»

(NEWSER) - Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the Cambridge cop who arrested him both say they will take up President Obama on his offer to have a beer at the White House. "It is time for all of us to move on, and to assess what we can learn from this experience," Gates told the Boston Globe. A fellow officer says James Crowley also agreed to the meeting, which looks like it could take place next month. More»

'This is what happens to black men in America': Gates to cop

(NEWSER) - A prominent Harvard scholar was arrested last week outside his Cambridge, Mass., home and charged with disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” the Harvard Crimson reports. Henry Louis Gates, a renowned professor of African-American studies, was trying to get into the locked house when a neighbor called the police. The officers who made the arrest said Gates did not respond when they demanded he identify himself. More»

(NEWSER) - At Harvard and labs across the country, researchers are turning to dogs for clues on how their brains—and ours—work, the Boston Globe reports. “Psychologists have been ignoring animals that were sleeping quietly at their feet,” one professor said, but no longer. Dogs understand pointing better than even our closest primate relatives, and scientists wonder if their intelligence could be tied to domestication. More»