Recently added articles from Science News:
Atom & Cosmos.(SN Online: www.sciencenews.org)
Jun 06, 2009 ... Astronauts completed the final space walk to repair the Hubble Space Telescope on May 18 (below) ....
Science stats: R&D spending.(SCIENCE NOTEBOOK)
Jun 06, 2009 ... Proportion of national research and development expenditures funded ...
With science at its best, answers raise questions.(FROM THE EDITOR)(Editorial)
May 09, 2009; ... Birds and bees, ants and plants are among the most familiar--and most well-studied scientifically--life-forms on the planet. You'd think that if you wanted to know something about how any of them work, you'd go look it up in a book (excuse me, I meant the Internet). But whether ...
Scientific observations.(SCIENCE NOTEBOOK)(Professor Bennett G. Galef Jr.)(Quotation)(Brief article)
May 09, 2009; ... "As I have told my students ... I view a life in science as a marathon, not as a sprint. My goal is to ask simple questions arising from clearly stated hypotheses, to use both simple experimental designs and transparent statistical analyses, to proceed one step at a time, experiment after ...
Science past: from the issue of May 9, 1959.(SCIENCE NOTEBOOK)(global warming forecast)(Brief article)
May 09, 2009 ... FORECAST 25% INCREASE IN AIR'S CARBON DIOXIDE--A 25% increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere during the 150-year period ending in 2000 A.D. has been forecast. Dr. Bert Bolin of the University of Stockholm in Sweden told the National Academy of Sciences meeting in ...
Science stats: females tested more than males.(SCIENCE NOTEBOOK)
May 09, 2009 ... Percentage of U.S. adults age 18 and older who have ever been tested ...
Science future.(SCIENCE NOTEBOOK)(fairs; contests)(Brief article)(Calendar)
May 09, 2009 ... May 10 Winners of the "Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest" announced in Naples, Fla. View entries at illusioncontest. neuralcorrelate.com May 10-15 Intel International Science ...
Earth.(SN Online: www.sciencenews.org)(iron in water)(Brief article)
May 09, 2009 ... Iron in water seeping from an underground ecosystem takes on a rusty hue as it oxidizes (below). Surprisingly hearty life forms use the ...
Body & brain.(SN Online: www.sciencenews.org)(urine test may predict lung cancer risk)(Brief article)
May 09, 2009 ... High levels of tobacco-related compounds that show up in urine could identify which cigarette smokers are most likely to develop ...
Introducing....(SCIENCE NOTEBOOK)(Tabuina varirata the jumping spider)(Brief article)
May 09, 2009 ... Not only is this jumping spider a new species, it's also unusual enough to justify naming a new genus. Called Tabuina varirata, the species belongs on one of the sparser, more isolated branches of the spider family tree, reports Wayne Maddison in Zootaxa. Maddison, director of the Beaty ...
Landscaper's darling hybridizes into an environmental nuisance: variation underlies the Callery pear tree's transformation.(STORY ONE)
May 09, 2009; ... As in other tales of nice kids gone wrong, the Callery pear tree's troubles can be traced to a gang of new pals, a new genetic analysis suggests. Imported from China, the Callery pear won U.S. hearts and yards coast to coast for its early spring clouds of white blossoms. The ...
Back story: costs of invasives.(IN THE NEWS)(Table)(Brief article)
May 09, 2009 ... <Pre> Back Story | COSTS OF INVASIVES The Gallery pear tree is among some 50,000 foreign species of all sorts that have moved into the United States, some intentionally, some not. Europe's latest count reveals at least 10,000. A small percentage of invasives prove to be a noticeable ...
Brash birds get nabbed more often: personality may affect which flycatchers end up in the lab.(Life)
May 09, 2009; ... Who knows whether birds have their own snarky personality jokes. But researchers now say collared flycatchers with a dashing and curious character are especially likely to get caught in researchers' traps. The trappable birds readily explore novelties and take risks in the ...
Arthropods came ashore in shells: gear may have kept gills wet during transition onto land.(Life)
May 09, 2009; ... Some of the first creatures to leave the ocean and venture onto land may have done so by carrying a bit of the sea with them. Fossil trackways left on ancient tidal flats 500 million years ago hint that some ocean-dwelling arthropods, like today's hermit crabs, hauled out onto land wearing ...
Oddities in rod cells may help with night sight: nocturnal mammals invert retinal DNA arrangement.(Life)
May 09, 2009; ... Mice and cats don't usually agree, but both animals have the same bright idea about night vision. Cats, rats, mice and other nocturnal mammals arrange DNA in some eye cells to form miniature lenses that help focus light, a new study shows. Scientists at the Ludwig-Maximilians ...
Lizards bask for more than warmth.(Life)(Brief article)
May 09, 2009; ... A lounging lizard might not bask just for warmth--it may be getting a much-needed hit of vitamin D. A new study reports that panther chameleons (one shown) set their sunbathing schedule depending on how much vitamin D they need. The new work, published in the May/June Physiological and ...
Other, friendly fat present in adult humans: brown fat could help keep people warm and slender.(Body & Brain)
May 09, 2009; ... In the ongoing battle of the bulge, maybe it is time to fight fat with fat. Three studies in the April 9 New England Journal of Medicine show that some adult humans have brown fat, an energy-burning type of fat previously thought to be found only in animals and human babies. All together, ...
Acid reflux link to asthma in doubt: heartburn drugs may not help patients with severe attacks.(Body & Brain)(Brief article)
May 09, 2009; ... Taking heartburn drugs doesn't reduce severe attacks among asthma patients, researchers report in the April 9 New England Journal of Medicine. The findings cast doubt on a long-held assumption that even unnoticed acid reflux exacerbates asthma. Many doctors prescribe proton pump ...
Hypoglycemia linked to dementia: severe low blood sugar episodes might heighten risk later.(Body & Brain)
May 09, 2009; ... A single episode of low blood sugar severe enough to require prompt medical attention increases a person's risk of developing dementia in old age, a study in people with diabetes suggests. More than one bout of hypoglycemia seems to heighten the risk even further, researchers report in the ...
Undetectable sensor would still see: new cloaking method may allow signals to be sent, received.(Matter & Energy)
May 09, 2009; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cell phones, radio receivers and GPS devices may one day go incognito. In a paper to appear in Physical Review Letters, Nader Engheta and Andrea Alu propose a new cloaking method that would cancel out electromagnetic waves bouncing off an object. The ...