Science News

All the latest on newscientist.com: mini space shuttle crash-lands, Ethiopia turns on Africa's largest wind farm, the quest for a country to destory Syria's chemical weapons, water droplets spin gold sponges, banishing j...

A population of humpback dolphins off the northern coast of Australia has now been identified as a distinct species, adding to the list of three other distinct species within this group of dolphins.

No one was on-board when the Dream Chaser crashed at the end of its first free flight, and valuable lessons are being learned     

Families that eat together without the television on and stay seated until everyone's finished have children with lower weights and body mass index (BMI), reports a study.

A crucial component of wound healing in many animals, including humans, is the migration of nearby skin cells toward the center of the wound. How do these neighboring skin cells know which way to migrate? A new paper fro...

Groundbreaking research nearly two decades ago linking a mother's educational background to her children's literacy and cognitive abilities stands out among decades of social science studies demonstrating the adverse eff...

A new study has shown that egg development in the mosquito species primarily responsible for spreading malaria depends on a switch in the female that is turned on by a male hormone delivered during sex. Blocking the acti...

In middle-income countries such as China, interventions that have a psychological or social component (often referred to as psychosocial interventions) delivered by health workers who are not mental health specialists co...

Every fall, the latest batch of flu vaccines attempts to keep society a step ahead of the evolution of the flu virus. Heroic worldwide surveillance efforts have avoided a repeat of the 1918 flu pandemic, but as shown in ...

Patients who are unrealistically optimistic about their personal health risks are more likely to take preventive action when confronted with news that is worse than expected, while unrealistic pessimists are less likely ...

Scientists have found a way to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to using viruses to deliver therapeutic genes: how to keep the immune system from neutralizing the virus before it can deliver its genetic payload.

Research now offers compelling evidence that establishing standardized criteria for calling a palliative care consultation improves the quality of care for patients hospitalized with advanced cancer. The investigators sa...

For women who are at high risk of blood loss, using an artery in the wrist may be better than the groin for routing a stent to the heart during coronary angioplasty, according to researchers.

Did a cyberattack shut down a major road system in Israel last month? The Associated Press says it did, but security experts who spoke to Tom's Guide weren't so sure.

Mercury-contaminated sediments are washed downriver after floods in northern California, new research shows.

You don't have to avoid Halloween candy, but know your limits.

A compound found in centipede venom could block many forms of pain. The new molecule could sidestep the problems of opioids, which are addictive and need to be given in ever-increasing doses to achieve the same level of ...

Some researchers claim that there is scientific evidence linking Halloween spooks to rare but real medical conditions. Here's an explanation of how medical researchers may have discovered the scientific roots that underl...

Children who get chickenpox may be at increased risk for stroke soon after the infection, a new study from the United Kingdom suggests.

Thermal infrared (IR) energy is emitted from all things that have a temperature greater than absolute zero. Human eyes, primarily sensitive to shorter wavelength visible light, are unable to detect or differentiate betwe...

Device Found Inside Irons The device pulled from the iron as revealed on Russian state TV. Planet Events There's a new problem with some imported irons, according to Russian state media. As reported on the state-owned Ro...

As any amateur baker knows, proper mixing is crucial to a perfect pastry. Mix too little and ingredients will not be evenly distributed; beat instead of fold, and a soufflé will fall flat. Mixing strategies are even mor...