All Stories by Helen Thompson
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Health & MedicineBy the numbers: How infectious measles and other diseases spread
A number called R0 measures how contagious an infectious disease is. It helps explain why measles is so dangerous.
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AnimalsYes, cats know their own names
Cats can tell their names apart from other spoken words. A new study supports what cat owners the world over had suspected.
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EnvironmentPacific garbage patch may be 16 times bigger than thought
The giant ‘garbage patch’ that floats between Hawaii and California weighs at least 79,000 tons, a new estimate suggests.
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PlanetsWhat the Curiosity rover has learned about Mars so far
Scientists take stock of what the Curiosity rover has learned after five years on Mars — and what else it may turn up in the next year or so.
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GeneticsScientists hide a real movie within a germ’s DNA
A gene-editing technology called CRISPR helped scientists encode a short movie in the DNA of E. coli bacteria.
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ArchaeologyDNA from African mummies tie these folk to Middle Easterners
Ancient DNA extracted from 90 Egyptian mummies reveals genetic links to Greece and the Middle East.
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Health & MedicineFlu fighter found in frog slime
A protein found in the mucus secretions of an Indian frog can take down a type of flu virus, a new study finds.
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ArchaeologyFossils point to Neandertal diets — and medicine use
Whether Neandertals were largely meat-eaters or vegans depended on their environment, fossils now suggest. Their teeth also indicate they used natural medicines.
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AnimalsPeacock spider’s radiant rump comes from teeny tiny structures
Male peacock spiders have highly colored hind ends that they shake to attract females. Scientists have now figured out the physics responsible for those hues.
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Health & MedicineU.S. to outlaw antibacterial soaps
Soaps with germ-killing compounds promise cleaner hands. But manufacturers couldn’t show they offer any safety advantage. Now the U.S. government is banning them.