Notebook
- Astronomy
New Worlds Atlas
Keep track of the ever-expanding list of newly discovered planets orbiting distant suns at PlanetQuest 2.0, a revamped Website developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It has images, “planet system visualizations,” movies and games that simulate interstellar exploration, and even lets you install a desktop planet counter so that your computer always displays the latest […]
- Humans
From the February 19, 1938, issue
A rough, tough charioteer from ancient Sumer, Americans' poor eating habits, and digging up an early industrial town.
- Earth
Find My Valentine—or Other Places
The federal Geographic Names Information System lists 14 sites around the nation named Valentine—Including Alta Mills, Kan., and Bedison, Mo., for which Valentine is an alternate moniker. You can search for locations that may share your name, a name associated with some holiday (like Santa Claus, Ind.), or the name of an object of your […]
- Humans
From the February 12, 1938, issue
Radio tower reaches for the sky, making a canyon the hard way, and forecasting the next big drought.
- Humans
From the February 5, 1938, issue
Tiny shells test lenses, the rules of radioactivity, and discovering new lunar terrain.
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Marine Cloudmakers
As bubbles in the ocean burst, they release entrained microorganisms and other marine materials. As they’re spewed into the air, these particles can serve as the basis of cloud particles. Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego explain the phenomenon in this Jan. 8 mini-video and even speculate […]
- Humans
From the January 29, 1938, issue
A new telescope's home under construction, Eros makes a close pass, and history revealed in mosaic floors.
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Be a Cognitive-Test Subject
You can become an online participant in tests of how the mind uses and processes words at this several-month-old site, administered by Harvard University’s Cognition and Language Laboratory (with collaborators at other institutions). Alternatively, you can just read the results from earlier experiments. They’re quick, fun, and sometimes embarrassingly challenging. Go to: http://coglanglab.org
- Humans
From the January 22, 1938, issue
Lightning striking again and again, estimating the age of the oceans, and dangerous, youthful drivers.
- Earth
Identifying Polluters
Three major business schools have teamed up to map some 20,000 sources of industrial pollution. You can search for polluters in a particular region, in a designated industry, or those associated with a named company, then probe their emissions by type and quantity, look at how their pollutant trends have changed over time, and compare […]
- Humans
From the January 15, 1938, issue
Radio-assisted snowplows, getting to know the "X" particle, and ancient frozen mammoths found in Siberia.
- Animals
Secret Lives of Worms
Colorful and compelling, this science-rich, 15-minute video offers an up-close glimpse into the weird world of segmented worms—from nightcrawlers and leeches to feathery coral-dwelling dazzlers. Go to: https://www.sciencenews.org/sn-magazine/april-11-1987
