More Stories from the March 16, 2002 issue
- Physics
Magnetism piece fits no-resistance puzzle
Experimenters have found evidence that a type of magnetic behavior correlated with the onset of zero electrical resistance in some so-called high-temperature superconductors is generic to the whole class of those materials, yielding a possible clue to how the substances lose their resistance.
- Health & Medicine
New human virus tied to obesity
Researchers have identified the second member of a class of human viruses that may increase people's susceptibility to obesity.
- Health & Medicine
Lack of nutrient turns flu nasty
A dietary deficiency in selenium, an essential trace mineral, may cause a usually harmless strain of the flu to mutate into a virulent pathogen.
- Planetary Science
Probing Jupiter’s big magnetic bubble
Simultaneous measurements by two spacecraft have probed in greater detail than ever before Jupiter’s magnetosphere, the invisible bubble of charged particles that surrounds the giant planet.
- Plants
Fringy flowers are hard to dunk
The fringe on the edges of the floating blooms of water snowflake flowers helps protect the important parts from getting drenched in dunkings.
- Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s disease vaccine abandoned
Safety concerns forced the shelving of tests of an experimental vaccine for Alzheimer's disease.
- Health & Medicine
Eight hours of sleep may not be so great
Sleeping 8 to 9 hours a night doesn't necessarily translate into a longer life.
- Health & Medicine
Stem Cell Success: Mice fuel debate on embryo cloning
In mouse studies, scientists have used a technique called therapeutic cloning to create personalized replacement tissue.
- Astronomy
Telescope Tuned Up: Back to work for orbiting observatory
A rejuvenated Hubble Space Telescope floated away from the space shuttle Columbia on March 9 after astronauts spent a week renovating the observatory.
- Health & Medicine
Troubled Hearts: Antibiotic might fend off second attack
An antibiotic might protect people with heart disease from future coronary events, according to the results of a small-scale trial.
- Health & Medicine
Clever Combo: Hybrid vaccine prevents West Nile virus in mice
A vaccine fashioned from pieces of dengue virus and West Nile virus protects mice against West Nile fever, suggesting it might work in people.
- Paleontology
Did Mammals Spread from Asia? Carbon blip gives clue to animals’ Eden
A new dating of Chinese fossils buttresses the idea than an Asian Eden gave rise to at least one of the groups of mammal species that appeared in North America some 55 million years ago.
- Humans
Science Smarts: Talent search honors top student projects in math, science, and engineering
Forty students reaped rewards for their excellence this week when the Intel Science Talent Search handed out the top awards in its 2002 competition for high school seniors.
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Heads Up: Problem solving pushed bright primates toward bigger brains
A common capacity among primates for solving a broad range of problems, from coordinating social alliances to inventing tools, may have played a central role in the evolution of progressively larger brains.
- Ecosystems
Are They Really Extinct?
A few optimists keep looking for species that might already have gone extinct.
- Astronomy
Rethinking an Astronomical Icon
Examining the Eagle nebula's pillars of creation with infrared detectors, scientists are viewing an astronomical icon in a whole new light.
