Science News

Most basic physics textbooks describe laser light in fairly simple terms: a beam travels directly from one point to another and, unless it strikes a mirror or other reflective surface, will continue traveling along an ar...

A non-discovery is causing physicists to rethink how they think about dark matter, the mysterious "stuff" that pervades the universe.

MIT researchers and their colleagues are designing an imaging system that can read closed books.

A skeptical science writer critiques strings, multiverses, meditation, the Singularity and “neo-geocentrism.”   --

A protein that may be an unexplored target to develop new cancer therapies has been identified by researchers. The protein, known as kinase suppressor of Ras, or KSR, is a pseudoenzyme that plays a critical role in the t...

Community characteristics play an important role in perpetuating teen suicide clusters and thwarting prevention efforts, according to a new study.

Certain antibiotic resistance genes are easily transferred from one bacterial species to another, and can move between farm animals and the human gut. A team has characterized this 'mobile resistome,' which they say is l...

MIT researchers and their colleagues are designing an imaging system that can read closed books.

Waste water tests show the pharmaceuticals they contain are mainly excreted, suggesting that more expensive treatment may be needed to deal with them

New research has shown that the corticosteroid deflazacort is a safe and effective treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The findings could pave the way for first US-approved treatment for the disease.

New understanding may allow doctors and researchers to stop bladder cancer's ability to stop the tumor-suppressing gene RhoDGI2, thus allowing its initial action to proceed.

A tiny RNA appears to play a role in producing major depression, the mental disorder that affects as many as 250 million people a year worldwide. Researchers have found that amounts of this microRNA are significantly ele...

Face transplantation is psychologically unlike other transplants because face transplants involve a re-understanding of what it means to be yourself.

Many ships will soon have to install systems to deal with stowaways species in their ballast water that have caused havoc when dumped far from home

What can the surprisingly huge mass of the black holes detected by LIGO tell us about dark matter and the early universe? The historic detection of gravitational waves announced earlier this year breathed new life into a...

A pesticide called naled is now being sprayed aerially in Florida, to fight mosquitoes that may carry Zika.

For patients with advanced lung cancer, a non-invasive liquid biopsy may be a more effective and suitable alternative to the gold standard tissue biopsy to detect clinically relevant mutations and help guide their course...

Knee pain is common among Americans age 40 and up. Nearly one in 17 people visit doctors' offices each year for knee pain or injuries from osteoarthritis -- a progressive 'wear and tear' disease of the joints. Now a new ...

Turns out bacteria may transfer to candy that has fallen on the floor no matter how fast you pick it up. Rutgers researchers have disproven the widely accepted notion that it's OK to scoop up food and eat it within a 'sa...

Over the past century, we have made massive strides in the rights revolution. These include rights for women, children, the LGBT community, animals, and so much more. Exploring the future, we must ask ourselves: what nex...

Scientists show greatly improved protective antibody responses to a new mutant vaccine antigen for prevention of disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis -- also known as meningococcus -- that has the potential to improv...

A massive ice avalanche captured in images from space could have been caused by climate change, say researchers who are stymied by why a glacier tongue would shear off like it did.