Letters to the Editor
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19545
It seems that one of the intriguing potential beneficial applications of hydrogen sulfide-induced torpor would emerge if it turns out that cancer cells are less sensitive to the gas than healthy cells are. If we could turn down the metabolic activity of normal tissue, reducing its sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs, while the cancer cells remained […]
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19544
Your article on the reaction of nanoparticles of iron with trichloroethane (TCE) contaminating an aquifer, states that the TCE is converted “into ethane.” What happens to the chlorine stripped off the TCE? Is it converted into insoluble inorganic compounds or is it available to react with another aquifer contaminant to possibly form another toxic substance? […]
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19543
This article made me wonder about the possibility of a continuum of matter. Could part of the problem in identifying dark matter be that only part of the spectrum of matter is observable by our senses and sensors? As there are sound waves above and below the frequencies we can hear, and light waves we […]
- Humans
Letters from the April 16, 2005, issue of Science News
Ax questions, hard answers Another hypothesis for the polish on the Stone Age corundum ax head is that the Stone Age people never had absolutely pure corundum, which indeed would have required diamond to polish (“In the Buff: Stone Age tools may have derived luster from diamond,” SN: 2/19/05, p. 116). It is possible that […]
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19542
In this article researcher S. Jill James implicates low glutathione and heavy metal exposure in autism. This may be the case, but glutathione has a number of important functions that have nothing to do with heavy metal binding. As an antioxidant, glutathione reduces toxic free radicals. Glutathione is also a key factor in the maintenance […]
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19541
Research results on the physiological effects of blue light 1.5 hours before bedtime makes me wonder about the effects on sleep and, subsequently, mood and metabolism for the millions of us who spend hours each night staring into two sources of blue light, the television and the computer screen. Jill HolmgrenFairbanks, Alaska
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19540
This article gives the casual reader the distorted view that one could travel the solar system at will by using these methods. These are generally small perturbations on the much larger primary propulsion requirement that is fixed by standard two-body orbital mechanics. John OldsonSan Diego, Calif. In the course of its eccentric orbit, the moon […]
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19539
To a layman like me, it seems almost impossible that light reflected from a body that lies “much farther from the star than Pluto does from the sun” could be seen from Earth at a distance of 450 light years, when Pluto, only 6 light hours away, reflects so little light to Earth. Peter JemingSeattle, […]
- Humans
Letters from the April 9, 2005, issue of Science News
Big ideas Your article “Life on the Scales” (SN: 2/12/05, p. 106) reminded me that taking a bird’s song and transposing it down four octaves makes it sound like a whale’s song. The opposite is also true. To hear this, go to http://www.mind.net/music/birdwhaleDemo.mp3. Todd BartonAshland, Ore. The article would imply that the only anomaly to […]
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19538
Your article gives a simplistic and generally inaccurate account of the relationship between Fst [also called Wright’s F statistic] and race/subspecies/species. Fst reflects the relative amount of total genetic variation between populations. While there is bound to be a correlation between Fst and species status, Fst is not normally used to define species. An Fst […]
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19537
I usually tend to downplay worries about research in genetics, but I was quite concerned after reading “Expanding the genetic code” (SN: 4/2/05, p. 222). The researchers surely have plans to keep whatever they create contained. But adding a fifth base to the DNA of bacteria with a genetic mutation rate 10,000 times that of […]
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19536
The technique of ultrasonic leak detection through sensors mounted on the skin of a spacecraft or space station sounds good until the structures being monitored become more complex than a single sheet of aluminum. Then, resolving ambiguities from reflections and localizing the exact point of leakage may become difficult. Perhaps a portable device, with four […]
