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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: science

science stories: 170 news summaries

41 - 60 of 170 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 9 Next >>

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 Gene Discovery Raises 
 Breast Cancer Hopes 

Targeted therapy may prevent lethal spread, researchers say

Jan 6, 09 5:01 PM CST
(Newser) - Researchers have singled out a gene that spreads breast cancer and makes it chemo-resistant, raising the prospect of drug therapy that localizes the disease and improves survival rates, the Baltimore Sun reports. Scientists believe that metadherin, or MTDH—found in 40% of the breast cancer patients studied—makes tumor cells... More »

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cancer • breast cancer • prostate cancer • science • death • cancer treatment • genes • medical study

Obama Gets
Knocked for
Bad Science

Group also zings Cruise, Oprah, McCain for scientific flubs

Dec 27, 08 5:14 PM CST
(Newser) - He’s about to lead the free world, but Barack Obama’s a little fuzzy on science, says a group that put the president-elect—along with John McCain, Tom Cruise, Oprah, and many others—on its celebrity list of shame. Obama’s offense? Suggesting that rising autism rates could be... More »

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Barack Obama • John McCain • Tom Cruise • science • Oprah Winfrey • Kate Moss • Demi Moore

(Newser) - A blind man has surprised scientists by walking an obstacle course with the strange power of "blindsight," the Times of London reports. The man, blinded by brain-damaging strokes, cleanly walked the course without using a cane. He had already baffled experts by reacting to people's facial expressions. “... More »

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study • science • blindness

(AP) - Barack Obama today selected a Harvard physicist and a marine biologist for key science posts, in a sign he plans a more aggressive response to global warming than did the Bush administration. John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco are leading experts on climate change who have advocated forceful government action. “... More »

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climate change • Barack Obama • science • NOAA • transition • Election 2008 • President Obama • John Holdren • White House Office of Science and Technology Policy • Jane Lubchenco • Harold Varmus • Eric Lander

 Plagiarism Case 
 Evolves Against Darwin 

Analysts spark furor
by saying he stole theory of evolution

Dec 20, 08 9:38 AM CST
(Newser) - As Darwin fans gear up for the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species, some analysts are calling the renowned naturalist a cheat, the Wall Street Journal reports. Alfred Russel Wallace is widely considered the co-founder of evolutionary theory, but some revisionists say Darwin cribbed the notion from Wallace.... More »

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evolution • science • Charles Darwin • botany

Obama Picks Physicist as Science Adviser

Harvard energy
expert to get key role,
cheering scientists

Dec 19, 08 8:48 AM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama will appoint Harvard physicist John P. Holdren as science adviser this weekend, pointing to an expanded role for science in the next administration, the Boston Globe reports. Holdren is versed in energy, climate change, and nuclear proliferation. Coming on the heels of Nobel laureate Steven Chu’s nomination... More »

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climate change • Barack Obama • energy • science • physicist • Harvard • Obama administration • John Holdren

'Dead Water' May Explain Drownings

Wave phenomenon
that slows ships may affect humans, too

Dec 18, 08 4:56 PM CST
(Newser) - Swimmers sometimes complain that water can be “evil,” but water is water, right? Wrong. So-called dead water—a naval phenomenon that happens when waves form between layers of warmer and cooler water, reducing a ship’s speed—may affect swimmers too, the New Scientist reports. And it might... More »

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water • science • swimming • drowning • science experiment

 Did Volcanoes 
 Drive Dinos to 
 Extinction? 

Scientists question 30-year-old crater theory

Dec 17, 08 2:51 PM CST
(Newser) - Colossal, repeated volcanic eruptions in India 65 million years ago released sulfuric gases that sent the dinosaurs, well, the way of the dinosaurs, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. A group of scientists at a Bay Area conference this week is questioning the decades-held theory that a meteor killed off dinosaurs.... More »

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India • Mexico • science • Earth • dinosaur • meteorites • volcanoes • scientific study

Barbies of the Future May Grow on Trees 

Researchers use wood and wax to make biodegradable alternative

Dec 6, 08 2:31 PM CST
(Newser) - Wooden toys may not be so 1850s, scientists say. A bioplastic made from trees has been used to make everything from golf tees to car parts in recent years, but its sulfurous stink kept it out of the toy market. Now a sulfur-free version of "liquid wood" is available,... More »

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trees • science • plastic • design • toys • nature • Barbie • inventions • Lego

 Scientists  
 Map DNA 
 of Woolly 
 Mammoth  

Neanderthals, early humans could be next

Nov 19, 08 6:42 PM CST
(Newser) - Scientists have pieced together the nearly complete genome of the woolly mammoth from a hair strand found in Siberia, National Geographic reports. It's the first time scientists have decoded the nuclear DNA of an extinct species. The development makes it theoretically possible for the mammoths to roam the earth again... More »

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science • DNA • natural history • genome • woolly mammoth • scientific breakthroughs

 Scientists Snap First  
 Images of New Planets 

Three-planet, one-planet systems caught on camera

Nov 13, 08 3:55 PM CST
(Newser) - Scientists have photographed planets outside our solar system for the first time, Space.com reports. One team captured images of a three-planet system orbiting a star in the Pegasus constellation, while another group snapped a planet rotating around the star Fomalhaut. The planets can't support life or little green men,... More »

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astronomy • science • space • extrasolar planets

 Mars Lander Falls Silent 

Phoenix lacks the solar power to continue its mission

Nov 10, 08 5:11 PM CST
(Newser) - The Martian autumn has cut power to NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, ending its mission of scientific discovery, NASA reports. As anticipated, shorter days and increasingly overcast skies are preventing sufficient solar energy from reaching the lander’s power cells. It has already collected data for 2 months longer than... More »

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environment • NASA • Mars • science • space • Phoenix Mars Lander • solar panel • solar panels • soil sample

 Perfect Swing? 
 Forget the Wrists 

Drive guided by when power applied, not golfer's strength

Nov 5, 08 6:29 PM CST
(Newser) - After decades of laborious calculations, a Canadian professor says he's discovered the precise mechanics of the perfect golf swing. It’s all in the arms, it turns out—not the wrists. By measuring professional swings caught in high-speed photos, Robin Sharp has determined that the optimum swing doesn’t depend... More »

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golf • science • engineering • University of Surrey • golf swing • Robin Sharp

 Young Island Is 
 Scientists' Playground 

Surtsey, formed off Iceland in 1963 eruption, is no-tourists-allowed model of evolution

Oct 27, 08 2:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - On Surtsey, off Iceland's coast, scientists take life one species at a time, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Since the island erupted from the ocean in 1963, only researchers have been permitted to visit and catalog its colonization by external species. With 2½ acres of land eroding each year, they’... More »

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evolution • science • Iceland • volcanoes • volcanic activity • surtsey island

Warmer Feelings Flow From Cozy Hands: Scientists

Study suggests holding warm objects inspires more generous emotions

Oct 23, 08 4:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - The temperature of whatever you’re holding may affect your mood, HealthDay reports. Two new studies, published in Science, indicate that holding warm objects tends to make people act more generously and see strangers in a kinder light than those holding something cold. “Simply holding a warm or cold... More »

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health • science • heat • relationship • cold

Chemistry Nobel Goes to 3 Who Found Glowing Protein

Compound vital to Alzheimer's research

Oct 8, 08 7:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded today to three scientists who discovered green fluorescent protein, a compound that allows biochemists to study cellular processes. The glowing protein, first found in jellyfish more than 40 years ago, can be attached to other structures and has been critical in research on... More »

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disease • science • cell • Nobel Prize • chemistry • Alzheimer's Disease • biochemistry

Physics Nobel to 3 Who Studied World's Origin

Work on 'broken symmetry' paved way for hadron collider

Oct 7, 08 7:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Nobel Prize for physics was awarded today to three researchers whose work on "broken symmetry" has clarified the origins of the universe. Their theories—a cornerstone of the so-called Standard Model of physics—explain how the world came into being after the Big Bang; although huge amounts... More »

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science • physics • Nobel Prize • Large Hadron Collider • particle physics

(Newser) - Superstitions and conspiracy theories all boil down to control issues, a new study says. When subjects in a University of Texas test were made to feel out of control, they saw more patterns that did not exist—whether images in a fuzzy picture or links between unconnected actions. Which is... More »

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study • science • research • psychology • conspiracy • mind • superstition

 It's Snowing on Mars 

Phoenix lander can't tell whether wet stuff is reaching ground

Sep 30, 08 4:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Snow has been falling nightly in the Mars atmosphere for about a month now, giving scientists more reason to believe that life may have once existed in the red planet's polar regions. Lasers onboard the Phoenix lander have tracked icy snow falling for a mile from clouds drifting 2.5... More »

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NASA • water • Mars • science • space • Phoenix Mars Lander • snow

 Harry Potter Portal 
 Is Possible: Experts 

It's a trick of the light

Sep 23, 08 4:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Harry Potter's invisibility cloak might be a real stretch, but scientists are now closer to making hidden portals like the one in an apparently solid wall that Harry uses to reach the train to Hogwarts, Nature reports. Objects made with so-called metamaterials—electrical devices that react oddly to light—can... More »

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Harry Potter • science • invisibility • metamaterials

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