More Stories from the July 29, 2006 issue
- Health & Medicine
Male circumcision could avert millions of HIV infections
Mass circumcision of boys and men in sub-Saharan Africa could avert 2.7 million new cases of HIV infection over the next decade.
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Bullying leaves mark on kids’ psyches
Being victimized by bullies at school between ages 5 and 7 promotes a unique set of behavioral and emotional problems in children, regardless of any such problems that they had before entering school.
- Chemistry
Old drug, new use
By screening a library of more than 2,000 existing drugs, researchers have identified an antihistamine that shows activity against malaria.
- Health & Medicine
Device spots sponges left behind
A device that uses radiofrequency identification can detect tagged sponges left in patients undergoing surgery.
- Paleontology
Rarity of fossils of young tyrannosaurs explained
Paleontologists have unearthed only a few juvenile tyrannosaurs, and a new study suggests why: A large percentage of these meat-eating dinosaurs, unlike many other creatures, survived into adulthood.
- Health & Medicine
Obesity correlates with psychiatric disorders
Obese adults are 25 percent more likely than normal-weight adults to develop one of four mood or anxiety disorders.
- Tech
Litmus test gets tiny
When zapped by a laser, new, light-sensitive nanobaubles could provide a reading of pH, or how acidic or basic a solution is, even from deep inside living cells.
- Astronomy
Double disks
Astronomers have confirmed that the nearby star Beta Pictoris has two disks of dust orbiting it, each of which is generated by debris likely to be left over from planet formation.
- Earth
Breaking Crust: Sonar finds new kind of deep-sea volcano
Undersea explorations more than 600 kilometers east of Japan have discovered evidence of a previously unknown type of volcanism.
- Animals
Babbling Bats: Do pups talk baby talk as human infants do?
Young sac-winged bats make long strings of adultlike noises and could be the first animals besides some primates and birds that babble when they're babies.
- Computing
Hairy Calculations: Picturing tresses in a truer light
Hard-to-simulate blond hair may look more natural in future animations thanks to a new computer model that allows for hairs' transparency and includes the illumination produced by light propagating from hair to hair.
- Materials Science
Solid Information: Chemical composition can determine concrete’s durability
A new analysis reveals how damage progresses in concrete that's exposed to sulfate.
- Health & Medicine
Side Effect Revealed: Heart risk found in leukemia drug
The remarkably successful cancer drug imatinib might cause heart failure in some patients.
- Planetary Science
Jovian storms of surpassing beauty
A new near-infrared image of two giant, oval storms in Jupiter's southern hemisphere reveals that they are now brushing past each other closely, separated by only 3,000 kilometers.
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Old Mice and Men: Species share genetic markers of aging
The amounts of protein produced by a particular set of genes could give researchers clues to how much a person or another animal has aged.
- Health & Medicine
Freeing Up the Flow: Clearing neck-artery blockage diminishes signs of depression in elderly
Propping open a clogged carotid artery may ease symptoms of depression in elderly people.
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30 Hours with Team Slime Mold
A bunch of biologists volunteer for a mad weekend of biodiversity surveying to see what's been overlooked right outside Washington, D.C.
- Earth
Intrepid Explorer
A robotic torpedo called an autonomous underwater vehicle has provided scientists with an unprecedented look at the underside of an Antarctic ice shelf.
- Humans
Letters from the July 29, 2006, issue of Science News
Squeeze, please It would seem to me that instead of looking to minimize the effect of grapefruit juice in slowing the metabolism and elimination of drugs, one could cut drug dosages by taking advantage of it (“Nabbed: Culprit of grapefruit juice–drug interaction,” SN: 5/20/06, p. 317). Grapefruit juice costs less than any drug and has […]
