More Stories from the November 6, 2010 issue
- Health & Medicine
Getting to the bottom of diabetes and kidney disease
Renal cells called podocytes may need insulin to maintain tissues’ blood-filtration role, a study in mice finds.
- Space
It’s only a seltzer moon
Plumes spewing from the south pole of Saturn’s Enceladus may have carbonated source, a new analysis suggests.
-
- Earth
Oceanographers with flippers
Tracking seal dives off Antarctica reveals seafloor troughs that affect ocean circulation.
-
- Space
Life may have started sky high
Simulations of the atmosphere on Saturn’s moon Titan suggest that basic chemical ingredients could have formed far above early Earth.
- Life
One small step for a snail, one giant leap for snailkind
Experiments suggest that gastropods shed their shells in one fell swoop during the evolutionary transition that created slugs.
- Health & Medicine
How being deaf can enhance sight
Hearing-specialized brain regions can adapt to processing visual input, cat experiments show.
-
- Health & Medicine
Mice robbed of darkness fatten up
Time of day can affect calories' impact, a study shows.
- Life
Pterosaurs might have soared 10,000 miles nonstop
Flight analysis suggests ancient reptiles were record setters.
- Planetary Science
A comet’s tail
Already under observation by astronomers, Hartley 2 will be visible in dark skies when it passes Earth on October 20.
- Health & Medicine
Implants help heroin addicts kick habit
Installing a slow-release drug under the skin enables some abusers of illicit and prescription drugs to get through withdrawal, a new study shows.
- Life
More than a chicken, fewer than a grape
A decade after the completion of the Human Genome Project, the exact number of human genes remains elusive.
- Psychology
Getting to not know you
Knowledge of a romantic partner’s likes and dislikes declines over decades, a study finds.
- Space
Existence of habitable exoplanet questioned
A Swiss team has failed to confirm what has recently been claimed to be the first planet outside the solar system that might be right for life.
- Humans
How testing improves memory
By creating associations, quizzes improve recall much more effectively than just reviewing notes.
- Earth
‘Fossil’ mountains entombed by ice
Cold temperatures have kept a buried Antarctic range fresh for hundreds of millions of years.
-
Science Future
November 6 Tweens can explore science and magic at the Moore Public Library in Tacoma, Wash. http://www.tacomapubliclibrary.org November 6 The Orlando Science Center in Florida hosts a “Neanderthal Ball.” Cocktail dress with caveman couture. http://www.osc.org November 17 Entry deadline for teen whiz kid competition, the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search. http://www.societyforscience.org/sts
-
The Dog Who Couldn’t Stop Loving by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Not just an animal lover’s tale, this book looks at recent scientific research on how humans evolved to care for canine companions. THE DOG WHO COULDN’T STOP LOVING BY JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON Harper, 2010, 249 p., $25.99.
-
The Music Instinct by Philip Ball
A journalist draws on neuroscience, anthropology and philosophy to explore the universal human experience of music. THE MUSIC INSTINCT BY PHILIP BALL Oxford Univ. Press, 2010, 452 p., $29.95.
-
The Man Who Invented the Computer by Jane Smiley
The best-selling author tells a quirky tale of John Atanasoff, an Iowa physics professor who in the 1930s pursued the dream of faster calculations. THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE COMPUTER BY JANE SMILEY Doubleday, 2010, 256 p., $25.95.
-
Portraits of the Mind by Carl Schoonover
From hand-drawn sketches to high-tech views of single neurons, a neuroscientist unpacks the visual history of brain imaging. PORTRAITS OF THE MIND BY CARL SCHOONOVER Abrams, 2010, 239 p., $35.
-
-
-
Top statistician explains what all those numbers mean
In June, the United Nations passed a resolution designating October 20 as World Statistics Day. The United States planned to mark the occasion with a gathering on Capitol Hill of representatives from number-crunching agencies. Science News writer Laura Sanders recently spoke with U.S. Chief Statistician Katherine Wallman about why numbers matter. “People have a lot […]
-
Iron in the Mix
Scientists look for the secret behind high-temperature superconductors.
-
Massacre at Sacred Ridge
A violent Pueblo incident sparks debate regarding prehistoric genocide.
-
Smoke from a Distant Fire
Burning forests can send aerosols into the stratosphere and around the world.
-
Letters
Underground particle hunts The dark matter experiments described in “Mining for missing matter” (SN: 8/28/10, p. 22) sound almost identical to those looking for neutrinos. Both are placed deep underground to help screen out background radiation, especially neutrons. How do particle hunters differentiate between neutrino hits and those by the putative dark matter particles? Also, […]
-
Science Past from the issue of November 5, 1960
“BUMPERS” FOR SPACE SHIPS — Sound-proofed “meteor bumpers” for space ships are needed to provide important psychological and physical protection for astronauts traveling through fast moving concentrations of space dust as they leave the earth, Dr. Fred L. Whipple, director, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and a professor of astronomy at Harvard University, reported. The sound of […]
-
Octopus by Jennifer A. Mather, Roland C. Anderson and James B. Wood
An in-depth look reveals the uncanny smarts and elegant adaptations of these eight-armed wonders. OCTOPUS Timber Press, 2010, 208 p., $25.95.
