FINDINGS Contraceptive Sponge Wins New Approval The Today Sponge contraceptive is returning to the market after a decade as federal regulators approved it again yesterday.
Study Says Antarctic Glaciers Are Shrinking, Sea Levels May Climb Most of the coastal glaciers along the 1,200-mile Antarctic Peninsula have shrunk as temperatures have risen over the past 50 years, and sea levels may climb if the trend continues, according to a study published today in the journal Science.
NASA Postpones Shuttle Launch by a Week NASA has moved the target date for launch to May 22 to enable engineers to complete the analysis and review of critical changes made to the orbiter in the aftermath of the Columbia disaster.
FINDINGS Antibiotics Do Not Cut Risk of Heart Problems Two very large studies have reached the disappointing conclusion that regularly taking antibiotics does not prevent heart disease, as some scientists had hoped.
NASA Chief Considers Shuttle Launch NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin says the space shuttle may be launched even if it is not in full compliance with safety recommendations made in the aftermath of the Columbia disaster.
Universe May Have Begun as Liquid, Not Gas New results from a particle collider suggest that the universe behaved like a liquid in its earliest moments, not the fiery gas that was thought to have pervaded the first microseconds of existence.
FINDINGS Happy People May Be Less Prone to Disease People who are happy may be better able to avoid debilitating health problems, a study by British researchers shows.
Radar Used to Track Butterflies' Loops Researchers have developed a customized radar tracking approach, in which insects are fitted with electronic "transponders" that yield the first real-time mapping of the flight paths of butterflies in an agricultural setting.
SCIENCE Hulls to Blame for 'Old Maids' So why is it that whenever you make popcorn there are always unpopped kernels left at the bottom of the bowl or the bag at the movies -- the ones that stick in your throat, plug up your teeth and pop your fillings?
In Earth Orbit, A Rendezvous Managed by Robotic Craft LOS ANGELES, April 16 -- A NASA robotic spacecraft located a Pentagon satellite in space without help from human controllers, but the mission ended early when the computer-driven craft detected a fuel problem, the mission manager said Saturday.
Engineers Present Plan to Service Hubble NASA engineers have shown they could service the Hubble Space Telescope using only robots, implicitly challenging the plan to abandon the controversial $470 million mission.
FINDINGS Aricept Only Delays Onset of Alzheimer's Aricept, a drug long used to treat Alzheimer's disease, can delay its onset a bit but does not prevent it in people with mild cognitive impairment, U.S. researchers said yesterday.
Cloned Cows' Milk, Beef Up to Standard Milk and meat from cloned cattle are almost identical in composition to the milk and meat from conventionally bred cattle, according to the first comprehensive assessment of the nutritional value of food from clones.
FINDINGS Low-Fat Diets May Lack Nutrients for Children Low-fat diets might be fine for adults, but at least one small study suggests grown-ups using that approach for their families could be depriving young children of vitamins.
Marine Life Complicates Removal of Old Oil Rigs A dozen rusting oil rigs perched on the muddy bottom of the Gulf of Mexico have spawned lush marine habitats that are home to a profusion of rare corals and fish.
SCIENCE Galileo's Debt to the Poet Galileo Galilee, the Italian physicist, astronomer and mathematician, may have unintentionally cribbed one of his greatest insights from a countryman who had been dead 300 years: the poet Dante Alighieri.
Science's Doomsday Team vs. the Asteroids Discovery of a rogue asteroid near earth demonstrates the tenacity of the small band of professionals and amateurs who track potential impact asteroids, and highlights the shortcomings of an international system that pays scant attention to their work.
More Evidence of Skull's Link to Humans Scientists who three years ago discovered a nearly complete 7 million-year-old skull in central Africa have dug up additional evidence supporting the conclusion that the skull belonged to the earliest known human ancestor.
FINDINGS Tomatoes Are Blamed In Salmonella Outbreak Contaminated Roma tomatoes were the probable cause of a string of salmonella outbreaks that made 561 people sick in the United States and Canada last summer, U.S. health officials said yesterday.
Historic Voyager Mission May Lose Its Funding In a cost-cutting move prompted by President Bush's moon-Mars initiative, NASA could put an end to Voyager, the legendary 28-year mission that has sent a spacecraft farther from Earth than any object ever made by humans.