Notebook
- Health & Medicine
The State of Our Nutrition
With the new year, people start thinking about dieting and developing better overall health habits. Want to know which regions of the nation started out the year as the most and least healthy—and by what measures? Turn to new maps prepared by the Agriculture Department and click on the state(s) of interest. Agency scientists have […]
- Humans
From the January 8, 1938, issue
Social scientist named AAAS president, rarest of the rare found high in the air, and an unusual joint for a skull.
- Earth
Focus on Our Planet
Although the United Nations has officially designated 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth, the 3-year celebration actually began a year ago and will continue through December 2009. The program’s ultimate goal: “to build safer, healthier and wealthier societies around the globe” through a better appreciation for and harnessing of Earth sciences. The UN […]
- Humans
From the January 1, 1938, issue
Giant electric machines in the works, a mysterious new subatomic particle, and seeking the age of an isthmus.
- Humans
From the December 18 & 25, 1937, issues
The infinite variety of snowflakes, making Java Man human, dinosaurs on the battlefield, Santa Claus in stone, filling empty space, and science progress in 1937.
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It’s a Small World
The apparently fictitious “Institute for the Promotion of the Less than One Millimeter” offers a visual smorgasbord of microbiological images. Wim van Egmond describes his “Micropolitan Museum” as portraits of what he can scoop up with a pipette or tweezers. He’s got marine and freshwater collections, a botanical garden, and an insectarium. The latter two […]
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My DNA Project
Having trouble cracking the code that geneticists use to describe new molecular advances in health and medicine? Well, researchers at the University of Massachusetts have developed a program aimed at helping the public acquire the tools—including vocabulary, and background information—necessary to “become comfortable with genome issues, and to learn how to take advantage of the […]
- Humans
From the December 11, 1937, issue
A sturdy new building for a mountaintop weather station, proving the authenticity of a treasure, and tracking cosmic rays underground.
- Humans
From the December 4, 1937, issue
The perfect beauty of frost rime, the sun's surprising influence on earth, and digging up evidence of ancient domestic cats.
- Earth
Water Vapor by Any Other Name
One can learn a lot by studying clouds—or just relax and soak in their beauty. Subscribers to both schools can find plenty of fodder in the British Cloud Appreciation Society’s gallery of nearly 3,200 photos. They’re organized by meteorological type, optical effects, and even by what a cloud might resemble—like “Casper the Ghost, spotted over […]
- Humans
From the November 27, 1937, issue
A smashing new particle accelerator comes to the nation's capital, a new subatomic particle reveals its weight, and pollen in a Wisconsin bog tells of past climate change.
- Humans
Support for Evolution
Alliance for Science seeks to unite prominent scientists and other influential opponents of creationism “to educate the public about the different but complementary roles of science and religion; to improve the teaching of science in our public schools; and to restore the excitement about science and discovery.” One new enterprise it’s sponsoring: an essay contest […]
