The first large black holes in the universe likely formed and grew deep inside gigantic, starlike cocoons that smothered their powerful X-ray radiation and prevented surrounding gases from being blown away, says a new study.
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Scientists have revealed how environmental irritants such as air pollution and cigarette smoke cause people to cough. The authors of a new study have identified the reaction inside the lungs that can trigger coughing when a person is exposed to particular irritants in the air. They suggest that their findings may ultimately lead to the [...]
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A key question in the origin of biological molecules like RNA and DNA is how they first came together billions of years ago from simple precursors. Now, researchers have reconstructed one of the earliest evolutionary steps yet: generating long chains of RNA from individual subunits using nothing but warm water.
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Scientists have found for the first time that high pressure can be used to make a unique hydrogen-storage material. The discovery paves the way for a new approach to the hydrogen-storage problem. The researchers found that the normally nonreactive, noble gas xenon combines with molecular hydrogen under pressure to form a previously unknown solid with [...]
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Women who store fat on their waist in middle age are more than twice as likely to develop dementia when they get older, reveals a new study.
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A butterfly’s proboscis looks like a straw — long, slender and used for sipping — but it works more like a paper towel, according to researchers. They hope to borrow the tricks of this piece of insect anatomy to make small probes that can sample the fluid inside of cells.
Influenza, particularly H1N1, has understandably captured the public spotlight. However, a new analysis shows that another virus — respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — takes a substantially greater disease toll among young children than does seasonal flu. Children infected with RSV had more than twice as many emergency department visits and six times more hospitalizations than [...]
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A new calculation of Europe’s greenhouse gas balance shows that emissions of methane and nitrous oxide tip the balance and eliminate Europe’s terrestrial sink of greenhouse gases.
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A protein known to stimulate blood vessel growth has now been found to be responsible for the cell overgrowth in the development of polyps that characterize one of the most severe forms of sinusitis, researchers suggests. The finding gives scientists a new target for developing novel therapies to treat this form of the disease, which [...]
To design a lightweight anchor that can dig itself in to hold small underwater submersibles, Anette Hosoi of MIT borrowed techniques from one of nature’s best diggers — the razor clam.