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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: scientific discoveries

scientific discoveries stories: 17 news summaries

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the oldest intact primate fossil on record, ABC News reports. Nicknamed “Ida,” the 47-million-year-old lemur-like creature had opposable thumbs, fingernails instead of claws, and legs that could have evolved to walk upright. Scientists don’t think Ida is a direct ancestor of humans, though. “... More »

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evolution • paleontology • fossil • scientific discoveries • primates • opposable thumbs

 Scientists Track Meteor 
 to Earth for First Time 

Discovery is like first clue to asteroid 'Rosetta Stone'

Mar 25, 09 5:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have accomplished a first by tracking an asteroid from space into Earth's atmosphere and down to a Sudanese desert, Wired reports. A team of searchers found about 280 small chunks of the meteor, all of a type never before collected. "This is like the first step toward a... More »

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astronomy • Sudan • asteroid • scientific discoveries • meteorites • scientific breakthroughs

Single Nerve
Cell Can Hold a Memory: Study

New findings may shed light on addiction, memory disorders

Jan 26, 09 12:04 PM CST
(Newser) - Individual neurons in the brain can hang on to memories for a minute or longer, a new study finds. Something like a computer’s temporary random access memory (RAM), this working memory is what allows you to keep a phone number in your head for a few seconds, then forget... More »

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memory • addiction • cognitive science • dopamine • scientific discoveries • scientific study • neurons • short-term memory • working memory

 Tobacco Could Treat Cancer 

Plant's virus can carry therapeutic genes into damaged cells

Sep 4, 08 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tobacco may be able to redeem itself. A modified virus from the plant can inject gene therapy into diseased cells to treat cancer, viruses, and genetic disorders, Wired reports. The virus’ tubular shape can be hollowed out and used like a tiny syringe to inject RNA molecules inside a... More »

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tobacco • medical research • scientific discoveries • scientific breakthroughs • mosaic virus • siRNA

'One in a Million' Conjoined Birds Found in Arkansas

Pair dies after landowner rescues them fallen from tree

Jul 18, 08 8:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - A pair of barn swallows born joined at the hip are being sent to the Smithsonian Institute for study, the AP reports. An Arkansas landowner found them fallen out of a tree this week and kept them for a day, but they refused to eat and died. Conjoined birds are... More »

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conjoined twins • Arkansas • birds • scientific discoveries • animal • discovery • Smithsonian Insitution

New Clues May Help Predict Earthquakes

Team detects seismic waves up to 10 hours before Calif. tremor

Jul 10, 08 11:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - Researchers could be closer to predicting earthquakes hours before they happen, with an article in the journal Nature detailing how scientists detected seismic changes in rocks as much as 10 hours before two small California temblors. “Hurricane [warnings] give you an idea of what could be done,” one... More »

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tremor • scientific discoveries • earthquake • seismology • San Andreas Fault

 Study Rewrites 
 Birds' Family Tree 

DNA research reveals new information about bird relations

Jun 26, 08 9:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - A five-year study of bird DNA is turning the world of ornithology on its head. The study revealed such drastic new information about the evolution of birds that dozens will need new scientific names, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Notable finds: Falcons are not related to hawks or eagles; hummingbirds—... More »

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evolution • birds • DNA • scientific discoveries • scientific research • Field Museum

Scientists Find Fossil of Most Primitive 4-Legged Creature

Fish-eater likely a product of extinct branch of 4-legged family

Jun 26, 08 2:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have found a partial skeleton of the world's most primitive four-legged creature— a water-dwelling tetrapod—in Latvia, AP reports. The four-foot-long fish eater resembles a small alligator and likely belongs to an extinct offshoot of the four-legged family tree. The fossil is 365 million years old—predating dinosaurs by... More »

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evolution • fish • scientists • scientific discoveries • Ventastega curonica

Scientists
Hail Ice Find
on Mars

Now the trick is
for Phoenix Lander
to collect it

Jun 20, 08 4:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - White material on Mars that was puzzling NASA scientists has turned out to be ice, Wired reports. "Are you ready to celebrate? We have ICE! Best day ever!" gushed a team scientist. The discovery of evidence of water—essential for terrestrial life—is exactly what scientists were... More »

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NASA • Mars • Phoenix Mars Lander • scientific discoveries

Scientific Journals Battle Doctored Images

Publications see fraud in submissions; screening on the rise

May 30, 08 4:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientific journals' status as bastions of objectivity and truth has come under fire in the past 10 years because of "image fraud," the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. Researchers alter representations of scientific data for inclusion in journal articles for various reasons, and not all have evil intentions.... More »

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federal investigation • scientific discoveries • doctored photo • scientific research • false statement • scientific journal

Morning Sickness
May Help Protect Embryos

Ailment has evolutionary benefit, researchers say

May 20, 08 5:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Far from being a mere nuisance, morning sickness may actively protect embryos, LiveScience reports. Doctors have long recognized the association of morning sickness and a healthy pregnancy, but new research suggests the condition evolved to protect embryos from dangerous environmental factors. More »

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pregnancy • motherhood • prenatal care • scientific discoveries • morning sickness

obituary

'Father of Chaos Theory'
Dead at 90

Edward Lorenz came up with concept of 'butterfly effect'

Apr 17, 08 10:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - The MIT scientist whose pioneering of chaos theory revolutionized science, has died at the age of 90, MIT News reports. Meteorologist Edward Lorenz came up with the concept of chaos theory after meticulously analyzing weather data and discovering microscopic differences could have huge effects, leading to his paper "Predictability:... More »

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science • MIT • meteorology • scientific discoveries • Edward Lorenz

'Frog From Hell' Fossil Turns up in Madagascar

'Beelzebufo' munched on baby dinosaurs

Feb 19, 08 3:15 AM CST
(Newser) - Fossil hunters digging in Madagascar have discovered a 70 million-year-old, 10 pound ancestor of the horned frog. Over twice as large as its modern-day descendants, the  "slightly squashed beach-ball" shaped creature probably lunched on small lizards and baby dinosaurs, and has earned the charming nicknames "frog from hell"... More »

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paleontology • fossil • dinosaur • frogs • scientific discoveries • continents • Cretaceous Period • animal

Scientists Near Invisibility Cloak for Sound

Special material
makes acoustic
waves take a detour

Feb 16, 08 12:30 PM CST
(Newser) - Researchers are making progress on something that sounds right out of the pages of Harry Potter—a sort of invisibility cloak for sound. A team of scientists in Spain is trying to turn theory into reality by creating a cloak that causes sound waves to slip around an object, the ... More »

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science • sound • scientific discoveries • invisibility

2007's Top 10 Scientific Findings

Dec 30, 07 2:45 PM CST
(Newser) - What were the most important scientific findings of 2007? LiveScience gives you the top 10:
  1. Climate change: The IPCC issued its strongest warning yet that humans are causing global warming.
  2. Arctic melting: Two studies found retreating arctic ice.
  3. Extreme weather: Global warming is contributing—specifically hurricanes and
... More »

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list • heat wave • science experiment • scientific discoveries

Roaches Fooled by Robots, Follow Their Lead

Cockroaches follow 'pied piper' impostors

Nov 17, 07 6:57 AM CST
(Newser) - Scientists have created robot cockroaches that genuine roaches accept into their communities—and even follow. The robots were covered in roach scent and programmed to like the same things roaches do—darkness and the company of other cockroaches. A Belgian theoretical biologist Jose Halloy and his colleagues found that the... More »

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insects • robotics • scientific discoveries • cockroaches

Chicago's Top 10 Contributions
to Science

Forget the ferris wheel: first controlled nuclear reaction tops list

Oct 4, 07 4:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - It's not all about heavy winds and deep-dish pizza.  A bevy of scientists picked Chicago's 10 most important scientific achievements as a part of a week promoting science:
  1. World's first controlled nuclear reaction
  2. Invention of the cell phone
  3. Development of hormone treatments for prostate and breast cancer
More »

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cell phones • malaria • list • skyscraper • Chicago Science in the City • scientific discoveries • top quark

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