
Hantviruses, a typical kind of virus. (CDC: Cynthia Goldsmith, Luanne Elliott/Wikimedia Commons)
It’s hot outside. Cool off with some science!
- This was a big week for viruses, one that reminded us just how little we know about the viral world. First came the news that 12 new groups of viruses — previously completely unknown to science — had been fished from the oceans.
- Then there was the announcement that a family of gigantic viruses had been discovered, viruses so large they could be see with a regular light microscope.
- Scientists have come up with a way to shut off the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome.
- Your dog might actually have an opinion about that sweater you got for him, because it turns out dogs may be able to see color at least as well as a color-blind person.
- Why biopsy a tumor surgically when you can do it with a blood test? It may not be far off, thanks to new technologies that can siphon tumor cells from the blood.
- Geophysicists say volcanoes sometimes scream right before they erupt. Now they know why.
- In a world where so many languages are dying or being forgotten, it’s amazing to hear about a new language being born.
- Clinical trials are a mainstay of the drug development process. But do they work?
- They had me at the headline: “What can sexy robot frogs teach us about evolution?”
- Now you can power your cell phone with pee. Just wash your hands after recharging.
- I love the smell of intergalacatic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the morning. Because that’s what space smells like.
- Some percentage of cases of autism may be due to antibodies from mom that attack the fetus’s developing brain. Waiting for the “Sure, blame the mom” comment….
- A common obesity gene may cause people to gain weight by keeping them hungry.
- Cancer survivors may get one more long term benefit from treatment, apart from being alive: a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s.
- A new technology could help surgeon’s tell when they’ve gotten all of a tumor out….by the smell of its burnt tissue.
- Now Neptune has a new moon too! (I think it got jealous of Pluto.)
- And here’s a cool video of a levitating superconductor riding on a magnetic Möbius strip. (Thanks to reader David K. for this!)
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