More Stories from the June 6, 2009 issue
- Health & Medicine
Narcolepsy linked to immune system
Genome association study finds a second connection between the sleep disorder and the body's disease-fighting apparatus
- Physics
Molecule turns red at breaking point
Materials made with a color-changing molecule may offer a red signal when under stress.
- Space
Using dead stars to spot gravitational waves
Astronomers are proposing a novel way to detect gravitational waves using ultraprecise observations of already known stars.
- Animals
Basking sharks head south for winter
Satellite-tagging data suggest that basking sharks migrate south to the Caribbean in winter.
- Life
Suppress-the-mob gene found in queen termites
Gene may help keep workers from illicit, royalty-threatening reproduction.
- Archaeology
Biocides inducing resistance in Lascaux cave’s microbes
Study makes researchers wonder whether they should treat fungus or not.
- Humans
Science receives a budget bonanza
Obama's budget blueprint for fiscal year 2010 delivers large research and development increases, although some rely heavily on the stimulus package, a one-time spending boost.
- Life
Misread epigenetic signals play role in leukemia
A genetic mistake causes misinterpretation of epigenetic marks, leading to cancer.
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- Chemistry
How RNA got started
Scientists identify chemical reactions that could be responsible for the origin of life.
- Life
For blood stem cells, the force is strong
Blood flow boosts production of blood stem cells, two new studies show.
- Health & Medicine
Scorpion venom neutralized
An antivenom drug commonly used in Mexico counteracts poisonous scorpion stings, researchers in Arizona find.
- Psychology
School-age lead exposures most harmful to IQ
New studies find lead exposure has greater potency in school-age children than in infants and toddlers, including effects on brain volume.
- Humans
Intel ISEF winners announced
Projects on smarter roundworms, glowing bacteria as pollutant detectors and the shared history of bees and nematodes take three top spots; Seaborg winner also named.
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Science Past from the issue of June 6, 1959
Space Flight Succeeds — Two little monkeys, one clad in a space suit and the other lying in a special capsule with her knees drawn up under her, were blasted 300 miles into space on Thursday, May 28, from Cape Canaveral, Fla., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has revealed. Drama of the experiment was […]
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Uranium: War, Energy, and the Rock That Shaped the World by Tom Zoellner
This radioactive substance has offered promise and generated peril throughout history. URANIUM: WAR, ENERGY AND THE ROCK THAT SHAPED THE WORLD BY TOM ZOELLNER Viking, 2009, 337 p., $26.95.
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The Cosmic Connection: How Astronomical Events Impact Life on Earth by Jeff Kanipe
From solar output to supernovas, cosmic events affect Earth’s biosphere. Prometheus Books, 2009, 296 p., $27.98. THE COSMIC CONNECTION: HOW ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS IMPACT LIFE ON EARTH BY JEFF KANIPE
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The Illustrious Dead by Stephan Talty
How an eons-old disease — typhus —defeated Napoléon’s seemingly unstoppable Great Army. Crown Publishers, 2009, 336 p., $25.95. THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD BY STEPHAN TALTY
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Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes by Daina Taimina
Math and art interweave in this tactile, comprehensible exploration of geometry. AK Peters, 2009, 148 p., $35. CROCHETING ADVENTURES WITH HYPERBOLIC PLANES BY DAINA TAIMINA
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Book Review: 1001 Inventions That Changed the World by Jack Challoner, ed.
Review by Sid Perkins.
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Book Review: Diagnosis: Mercury Money, Politics & Poison by Jane M. Hightower
Review by Janet Raloff.
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Quest for energy efficiency needs public engagement
On April 14, the National Science Board released a draft report called “Building a Sustainable Energy Future,” offering advice on how the United States can transition to renewable and clean sources of energy. Dan Arvizu, the cochairman of the board’s task force on sustainable energy and director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, […]
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Serotonin: What the gut feeds the bones
Chemical messenger plays a surprising role in determining the strength of the skeleton.
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Nanomaker’s Toolkit
Scientists harness charge, magnetism and even DNA to guide matter’s assembly into new materials.
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Letters
Hormones, milk and fat I find it difficult to understand why the hormone content of skim milk is greater than that of 2% low-fat milk, which in turn is greater than whole milk (“Scientists find a soup of suspects while probing milk’s link to cancer,” SN: 3/28/09, p. 5). To the extent that 2% and […]
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Science Future for June 6, 2009
June 7–19 High school students compete in the USA Biology Olympiad national finals in Fairfax, Va. See www.cee.org/programs/usabo July 11–15 American Society for Virology annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada. See www.asv2009.com September 15 Deadline for the International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge. Visit www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports
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How Women Got Their Curves and Other Just-So Stories: Evolutionary Enigmas by David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton
A sociobiologist and a clinical psychiatrist explore why women evolved the way they did. HOW WOMEN GOT THEIR CURVES AND OTHER JUST-SO STORIES: EVOLUTIONARY ENIGMAS BY DAVID P. BARASH AND JUDITH EVE LIPTON Columbia Univ., 2009, 224 p., $29.95.
