Notebook
- Planetary Science
Jupiter’s Whirlpool
The surprising birth and rapid evolution of a giant vortex highlight the first movie of Jupiter’s polar regions seen in the ultraviolet. The movie and other Jupiter images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft are available online at the Cassini imaging team and Jet Propulsion Laboratory Web sites. Go to: http://ciclops.org/view.php?id=58 and http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2002/release_2002_59.html
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From the April 9, 1932 issue
SPIDERS’ EGGS FORM PATTERN LIKE MOSAIC OF PEBBLES Like a rough mosaic of pebbles is the array of spider’s eggs photographed by Cornelia Clarke and reproduced on the cover of this week’s Science News Letter. Although smaller than small pinheads, the enlarging lens brought the eggs up to such apparent size that they were guessed […]
- Astronomy
Galaxy Hunter
At the interactive “Galaxy Hunter” Web site, students use data from the Hubble Space Telescope to investigate a bewildering assortment of deep-space galaxies in various stages of evolution–and learn statistical concepts such as sample variability and size along the way. Go to: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/ghunter/
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From the April 2, 1932 issue
TELETYPEWRITERS CAN NOW BE USED IN HOME On the cover of this issue of the Science News Letter is shown a portion of the mechanism of the teletypewriter, a hybrid medium of communication. The new teletypewriter service is a telegraph system with telephone methods and typewriting thrown in for luck. It is now possible to […]
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Genetic Code Cracking
Can’t tell a base pair from a Bosc pear? The National Library of Medicine offers an impressive, informative Web site devoted to the intricacies of genetics and molecular biology. Its science primer explains basic concepts, from bioinformatics to gene maps. The site also points users toward helpful resources on topics such as the human genome. […]
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From the March 26, 1932, issue
EASTER LILY UNFOLDS TALE TO X-RAY’S PIERCING EYE Ordinarily it is necessary to pull a flower to pieces to find what it is doing at any given moment in its development–and that, naturally, precludes one from following its development any further. One must turn to other flowers, at other stages of their unfolding, and ruin […]
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Seaweed Sights
Should dabberblocks, murlins, and sea whistles come up in conversation, here’s the page for figuring out what’s going on. The seaweed Web site, hosted at the National University of Ireland, Galway, offers a gallery of glamour photos of prominent seaweeds, as well as an introduction to the seaweeds we may not have realized we were […]
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From the March 19, 1932, issue
EXPLOSIONS USED TO LOCATE OIL FIELDS IN SOUTHWEST A beautiful explosion, so large that the camera could only catch a part of it with sufficient clarity to detail its streaked and billowing effects, is reproduced on the front cover of this week’s Science News Letter. It is one of hundreds of such blasts that have […]
- Physics
Signatures of the Invisible
Contemporary artists worked with CERN particle physicists to create pieces of art that respond to (rather than simply illustrate) the preoccupations of modern physics. This quirky Web site, hosted by the London Institute, provides glimpses of the artworks that resulted from this collaboration. Go to: http://www.signatures.linst.ac.uk/
- Health & Medicine
Fibroid Maladies
Every year, roughly 200,000 women in the United States get a hysterectomy–surgical removal of the uterus–to alleviate the pain and pressure of uterine fibroids. These noncancerous growths affect millions of women in child-bearing years. A good source of information on symptoms, treatments, surgical options, and possible causes is found at this site, compiled by the […]
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From the March 12, 1932, issue
UNEARTH NEW PORTRAIT OF KING TUT’S GIRL-WIFE A new portrait of the girl-wife of that well-known Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamon, has been unearthed from the ruins of Tel-el-Amarna, where the Egypt Exploration Society has been excavating. The portrait is a beautiful little head, with exquisitely modeled features. It is less than 2 inches long. Identity of […]
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From the March 5, 1932, issue
WEIRD LEATHER COSTUMES PROTECT ELECTRIC WORKERS Dressed in the clothes of imagined creatures from a distant planet, these power plant operators open and close the switches of transmission lines that bring power for electric lamp and industrial motor. The costume, a new invention of safety engineers, is designed to protect the wearer from flashes of […]
