Science News Archive - January 27, 2010
The question of whether there is life on other planets has kept scientists searching for years, but it now appears that the answer has come in variant life forms, likely miniscule microbes, found right here on Earth.
New material finds 'needle in a haystack,' shows promise for clean-up.
The latest issue of the Hastings Center Report features articles on "medicalized" weapons that temporarily incapacitate targets, sharing the benefits of newly found biological resources, and applications of GINA (the Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act).
The blue crab population has been declining in recent years under the assault of viruses, bacteria and man-made contaminants.
The paper, by Professor JoÃ£o ZilhÃ£o and colleagues, builds on his earlier research which proposed that, south of the Cantabro-Pyrenean mountain chain, Neanderthals survived for several millennia after being replaced or assimilated by anatomically modern humans everywhere else in Europe.
Homo floresiensis, a pygmy-sized small-brained hominin popularly known as 'the Hobbit' was discovered five years ago, but controversy continues over whether the small brain is actually due to a pathological condition.
University of Washington research has developed a formula to examine just what sorts of changes occur over time among complex and integrated structures.
Part of an ancient Roman law code previously thought to have been lost forever has been discovered by researchers at UCL's Department of History.
Public concern about global warming has dropped sharply since the fall of 2008, according to a national survey released today by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities.
A recent special edition of the Elsevier journal Ocean Engineering provides an analysis of the impact of Hurricane Katrina and an overview of the lessons learned in the aftermath of the disaster.
- The deadly nightshade, Atropa Belladonna, which possesses stupefying or poisonous properties.
- A sleeping-potion; a soporific.
- To mutter deliriously.