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Toxic neighbors: Astrocytes Trigger Neuron Death in ALS

As usual, it turns out that your mother was right -- the group you surround yourself with might just get you into trouble. Last month in the journal Nature Neuroscience, two groups of researchers reported that in the devastating disease amyotrophic…

Living Longer with a Healthier Immune System

While man’s eternal search for “the fountain of youth” continues, a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that we (at least the gourmands among us) may not like what we find. Scientists have known for…

To Bloom or Not to Bloom: Environmental Sensing in Flowering Plants

With cherry trees blooming from Jamaica Pond to the Public Gardens, Boston and the rest of New England experienced a reprieve from winter weather earlier this season. In fact, December 2006 was the warmest December on record in Boston, with the average…

The Birds and the Bees….and the Komodo Dragons?

Imagine for a minute that you are a zookeeper and that one day while inspecting your prized lizard exhibit you make a surprising discovery: your rare female Komodo dragon has produced a clutch of viable eggs despite having no contact with a male dragon!…