More Stories from the August 27, 2011 issue
- Physics
Particle discovery fills a gap
The neutral xi-sub-b is the eighth of nine predicted family members to be found.
- Psychology
Kids share, chimps stash
Divvying up goods comes easily to 3-year-old kids but not to adult chimps, a finding with evolutionary implications.
- Health & Medicine
‘Wave of death’ may not be a last gasp
A minute after decapitation, a rat's severed head shows signs of life.
- Space
Going where no Mars rover has gone before
NASA's next Mars mission, Curiosity, will land in the Red Planet's Gale Crater.
- Health & Medicine
Tossing, turning, forgetting
A new study in mice finds that sleep disturbance erodes memory.
- Health & Medicine
Chimp brains don’t shrink
Primate studies aim to find out why humans get dementia.
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- Physics
No new physics — yet
The world's largest collider has failed to match odd results coming from its nearest rival.
- Health & Medicine
Better transplants through centrifuging
Removing some antibodies from the blood of kidney recipients can improve their long-term outlooks, a study finds.
- Physics
C’mon radio, let’s do the twist
Molding signals into spiral shape might expand airwaves’ capacity.
- Life
Dolphin may sense the body electric
Organs on the species' snout help it detect faint fields, like those generated by prey.
- Life
DNA switches tied to non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Genetic defects lead to altered activity in other genes.
- Life
Wasp has built-in Facebook
An insect species with a tricky social life has a special facility for telling one bug's mug from another.
- Life
A cougar in Connecticut
Using DNA and trailside cameras, wildlife biologists retrace the 18-month, 2,000-mile journey of a young male cat.
- Materials Science
Now, an invisibility cloak you can see
Physicists have developed a device that can hide objects in visible wavelengths.
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Science Future for August 27, 2011
September 6 In New York City, author Joshua Foer discusses the history and science of competitive memorization. See www.nyas.org September 15 Deadline to submit photos illustrating “chemistry in our microbes” to the Colors of Chemistry calendar contest. For info go to colorsofchemistry.org
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SN Online
SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC BLOG Smoke-exposed kids are more likely to have neuro-behavioral disorders. See “Young minds at risk from secondhand smoke.” BODY & BRAIN At-risk newborns may avoid death and disability by cooling off. See “News in Brief: Body & Brain.” Active neurons trigger changes that speed up signaling. Read “How exercise benefits nerve […]
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Material Objects Seen as Holes in Space by British Scientist
A close examination of the math of quantum mechanics led to the prediscovery of antimatter particles in 1930.
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Lip Service: Smiles in Life, Death, Trust, Lies, Work, Memory, Sex, and Politics by Marianne LaFrance
A psychologist examines the science of smiles and their many social uses, from a baby’s enticing grin to a bully’s malicious smirk. W.W. Norton, 2011, 321 p., $26.95
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The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices: How the Digital Magicians of the MIT Media Lab Are Creating the Innovative Technologies That Will Transform Our Lives by Frank Moss
Preview some of the new technologies that the digital wizards at the MIT Media Lab are cooking up, from a foldable car to robotic feet. Crown Business, 2011, 272 p., $27.50
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Vulture by Thom van Dooren
The much-maligned birds get their due attention in this thoughtful look at vultures’ natural and cultural history. Reaktion Books, 2011, 192 p., $19.95
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The Bleeding Disease: Hemophilia and the Unintended Consequences of Medical Progress by Stephen Pemberton
A historian shows how advances in treatment made hemophilia manageable — yet led to many deaths from HIV-tainted plasma. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2011, 377 p., $50
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BOOK REVIEW: The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution by Keith Devlin
Review by Devin Powell.
- Tech
Sparing the rare earths
Potential shortages of useful metals inspire scientists to seek alternatives for magnet technologies
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The Color of Controversy
Link between food dyes, childhood hyperactivity gets renewed attention.
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When Birds Go to Town
Urban settings offer enterprising critters new opportunities — if they can cope with the challenges
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Science Past from the issue of August 26, 1961
EARTH ONCE GLOWED — The earth’s surface in its early years of life may have glowed like a beautiful rainbow, shimmering with the colorful array of light emitted by primitive organisms. Light emission may have occurred soon after life appeared on earth, when the atmosphere lacked oxygen…. As small amounts of oxygen appeared in the […]
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The Book of Universes by John D. Barrow
Explore this universe and the many others that may be possible in this tour of the science and scientists behind theories of the multiverse. W.W. Norton, 2011, 354 p., $26.95
