More Stories from the August 27, 2005 issue
- Health & Medicine
Stroke site is often not right
Thousands of strokes in the right half of the brain may go unrecognized because their symptoms are less distinctive than those of left-side strokes.
- Planetary Science
Enceladus: Small but feisty
Close-up observations of Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus reveal that its south pole is hotter than its equator and that the icy satellite continues to undergo eruptions.
- Earth
Spores record changes in ozone concentration
Decreasing concentrations of atmospheric ozone over Antarctica have triggered changes in the spores of a plant that grows in the region, a trend that could give scientists insight into ancient extinctions.
- Planetary Science
Radar for rovers on future Mars trips?
Scientists are developing ground-penetrating radar equipment that could serve as geologists' helpers on future Mars-roving vehicles.
- Animals
Coati version of spoiled brats
A biologist reports that ring-tailed coatis in Argentina have a kind of dominance structure never before documented in animals, with adolescents as a group outranking their moms and older half-sibs.
- Animals
Faithful voles have hidden infidelities
Prairie voles, used for studying the biological basis of monogamy, do form social bonds but they also have more out-of-pair sexual encounters than most biologists had expected.
- Animals
When a chipmunk teases a rattlesnake
Several of the Northeast's least ferocious forest creatures taunt rattlesnakes.
- Animals
Hey, kids, it’s time for drool
A researcher has for the first time decoded a vibrational signal used by paper wasps.
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Turning Back Time: Embryonic stem cell rejuvenates skin cell
By fusing an embryonic stem cell with an adult skin cell, researchers have created cells that retain valuable embryonic characteristics but carry the adult cell's genes.
- Physics
Warm Ice: Frozen water forms at room temperature
Ultrathin films of ice observed at room temperature and ordinary atmospheric pressure should be more widespread than previously thought, according to new experiments indicating that weaker-than-expected electric fields induce such freezing.
- Astronomy
First Supper: X rays may mark eating habits of baby black holes
Astronomers have evidence that just minutes after their tumultuous birth, baby black holes emit powerful burps of X rays that may be fueled by material left over from their first meal.
- Anthropology
A Seasoned Ancient State: Chinese site adds salt to civilization’s rise
Analyses of remains from an ancient Chinese site situated along a river indicate that salt making occurred there as long as 4,000 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Dark Side of a Blood Builder: Hormone linked to diabetic blindness
Erythropoietin, a hormone that orchestrates growth processes, may contribute to eye damage in people with diabetic retinopathy.
- Earth
Seafloor features steered tsunamis
Tsunamis circled the globe after a magnitude 9.3 earthquake struck the Indian Ocean last Dec. 26, but the waves didn't spread evenly.
- Chemistry
Presto, Change-o: New solutions could clean up chemistry
Scientists have developed a simple technique to switch an oil-like solvent into a waterlike one.
- Animals
What’s That Knocking? Sound evidence offered for long-lost woodpecker
Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology has released recordings from the woods of eastern Arkansas that researchers say could be the distinctive drumming and calls of the ivory-billed woodpecker.
- Earth
Earthshaking Event
Seismic instruments have provided a wealth of information about the earthquake that rocked Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004.
- Health & Medicine
Targeted Attack
Scientists are piecing together the details of how mutations in a protein called EGFR can lead to cancer, and they are designing a new class of drugs to stop the protein's destructive behavior.
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Letters from the August 27, 2005, issue of Science News
Sleeper issues I have experienced sleep paralysis in almost all of its forms, from terrors to vibrations and auditory hallucinations to out-of-body experiences (“Night of the Crusher,” SN: 7/9/05, p. 27). Most often it is completely terrifying, but I did have one episode that was elating. Sweet dreams. Kathleen MilroyOntario, Canada The manifestations reported by […]
