Notebook

SN Online

SCIENCE & SOCIETYPlants, algae and fungi can now be named online and in English. Read “Botanists et al freed from Latin, paper.” Thomas Libby, Evan Chang-Siu, Pauline Jennings, Courtesy of PolyPEDAL Lab & CiBER/UC Berkeley LIFE Videos and robots show how reptiles use their tails to balance in midair. See “Measuring the leap of a […]

Make pituitary hormone

A pituitary hormone goes from labor drug to love drug.

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SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC BLOG A government panel wants Science and Nature to withhold data that could be used to make bird flu more deadly. See “Researchers, journals asked to censor data.” ENVIRONMENT Survival rates of young fish could suffer from ocean acidification levels expected this century. Read “Acid test points to coming fish troubles.” […]

Science Future for January 14, 2012

February 15 “Matchmaking in the Digital Age” at the New York Academy of Sciences looks at the computer algorithms behind online social sites and what can be learned from them. See bit.ly/oVX2oy February 16 The “Hugs and Hisses” event at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science gives an up-close view of the world of […]

Science Past from the issue of January 13, 1962

MOON RACE WILL INCREASE — The race for the moon will become more competitive in 1962 in prestige, military and scientific aspects. Foremost there is developing a national will or desire to explore the moon and put an American landing party on the natural satellite of the earth. This is an objective set forth by […]

American and Dutch physicists reach new low temperature

Physicists compete in a race to the bottom with a finish line that can never be reached.

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BODY & BRAIN Some U.S. presidents go gray in four years, but they still tend to live longer than average. See “Presidency not a death sentence.” A program in Nepal enlisting motorbike owners as emergency transport saves the lives of people bitten by snakes. Read “Scooters save lives of snakebite victims.” GENES & CELLS Tiny […]

Science Future for December 31, 2011

January 6–February 17 See five science and nature films on a 90-foot domed screen at the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Omnifest. Visit www.smm.org/omnifest January 19 The St. Louis Science Center hosts a science café event to discuss space travel. See bit.ly/SNsltravel February 4 The Maryland Science Center introduces a hands-on insect exhibit. See bit.ly/SNmdinsect

Science Past from the issue of December 30, 1961

EARTH AND PLANETS FORMED FROM DUST DRAWN TO SUN — The Earth and all the other planets of the solar system were formed from tiny dust particles accumulating around the sun as it passed through a vast dust cloud in space. This theory on the origin of the solar system was proposed in London by […]

Find “extinct” fish alive in South African waters

A “living fossil” gets new family members as more coelacanths turn up.

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EARTH Scientists get closer to knowing the exact makeup of Earth’s innards. Read “Oxygen a bit player in Earth’s outer core.” NASA GENES & CELLS A sense-mixing condition in which some people see smells or taste colors may have genetic roots. See “Unraveling synesthesia.” BODY & BRAIN An illusion that tricks people into thinking a […]

Science Future for December 17, 2011

January 1 Last day of the “Science of Gingerbread” exhibit at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, Calif. See bit.ly/SNginger January 22 Last day to visit an exhibit on race at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, N.C. See bit.ly/SNrace January 31 Deadline for entries in the 2012 Neuro Film Festival to […]