More Stories from the September 22, 2001 issue
- Archaeology
Neandertals used tools with versatility
Microscopic data from artifacts found at two Ukrainian sites indicate that Neandertals used stone tools in flexible ways that allowed them to maintain a broad diet for nearly 50,000 years.
- Archaeology
Ancestors who came in from the cold
Researchers found the remains of a 36,000-year-old human occupation in the Russian Arctic, which represents the earliest evidence of a human presence that far north.
- Earth
Himalayas may be due for big temblors
Scientists say that a narrow region that rims the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau could be the spawning grounds for large earthquakes that could threaten millions in southern Asia in the decades to come.
- Earth
Quantum physics explains core anomaly
Scientists have used the principles of quantum physics to answer the long-standing puzzle of why seismic waves travel at different speeds in different directions across Earth's inner core.
- Tech
Futuristic engine proves its mettle
A miniature missile shot from a cannon has demonstrated for the first time in free flight that a futuristic jet engine called a scramjet can propel itself.
- Tech
Designing planet rovers that tumble
Before the decade is out, towering wind-driven balloons may roam the Martian surface, traveling far more extensively than wheeled rovers do.
- Health & Medicine
Obesity linked to pancreatic cancer
People who are obese or who have led sedentary lives with little exercise are more likely than others to develop pancreatic cancer.
- Health & Medicine
Constipation might signal Parkinson’s
Men who are constipated are more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than men who are not.
- Paleontology
New Fossils Resolve Whale’s Origin
The first discovery of early whale fossils with key ankle bones intact provides compelling paleontological evidence that whales are closely related to many living ungulates, a relationship already supported by molecular data.
- Health & Medicine
Even a little coffee may up heart risk
Drinking just 1 to 3 cups of coffee daily may adversely affect blood concentrations of cholesterol and homocysteine.
- Physics
Model may expose how friction lets loose
Rather than just grinding past each other, sliding surfaces may tremble with minuscule ripples that overcome friction as they move along.
- Materials Science
Ceramics stretch for future applications
Researchers have created a ceramic that stretches to 10 times its original length in record time.
- Health & Medicine
Drugs slow diabetes patients’ kidney damage
Two drugs normally prescribed for high blood pressure help forestall kidney damage in people with type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes.
- Animals
Shhh! Is that scrape a caterpillar scrap?
A series of staged conflicts reveals the first known acoustic duels in caterpillars.
- Health & Medicine
Alcohol on your breath need not be all bad
Drugs such as insulin may be delivered by inhaling mists of medicine-containing alcohol.
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Youthful nicotine addiction may be growing
Although the rate of daily cigarette smoking has declined among teenagers and young adults over the past 20 years, the number of smokers in this age range who develop nicotine dependence has risen dramatically.
- Animals
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!
Hungry chicks cheeping in their nest have inspired a whole branch of scientific inquiry.
- Astronomy
When Branes Collide
A controversial new theory proposes that our universe existed as a cold, featureless void for eons, until a parallel universe floating through a hidden fifth dimension crashed into it, igniting the Big Bang.
