Uncategorized
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Soap, Science, and Flat-Screen TVs: A History of Liquid Crystals by David Dunmur and Tim Sluckin
Learn how liquid crystals were discovered and how they eventually became the standard in display technology. Oxford Univ. Press, 2010, 345 p., $53.95.
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Letters
Religion at Sacred Ridge? I follow your magazine with zeal. I was somewhat surprised by “Massacre at Sacred Ridge” (SN: 11/6/10, p. 22), which seems to attribute the slaughter to some action by those who were murdered and does not discuss potential religious overtones of the attack. Is organized religion the culprit in this incident? […]
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The costs of putting knowledge into the wrong hands
As a chemist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., David Nichols studies psychedelic compounds in a quest to understand the brain, often creating new compounds as part of his research. He was recently dismayed to find himself cited by name in a newspaper article about an amateur chemist who scours the scientific literature for […]
- Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
A controversy about the benefits of extensive breast cancer surgery, plus more in this week’s news.
- Tech
The numbers prove it: This is a data age
An assessment of the world’s computing capacity documents a staggering rise in power and storage since 1986.
- Humans
Lucy’s feet were made for walking
A 3.2-million-year-old toe fossil suggests a humanlike gait for an ancient hominid.
- Life
Moonless twilight may cue mass spawning
Subtle color shifts on the nights just after the full moon might synchronize the release of gametes by corals and other marine creatures.
- Life
Fleas leap from feet, not knees
After years of scratching their heads over the question of exactly how the impressive jumpers launch themselves, scientists find an answer.
- Health & Medicine
Prenatal surgery may be preferable for spina bifida
Performing an operation preterm shows better results against the neural tube defect than waiting until the baby is born, but there are trade-offs, a new study shows.
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- Life
Small part of brain itching for a fight
A cluster of cells compels aggressive behavior in mice.
- Life
Buried microbes coax energy from rock
In experiments, microorganisms can stimulate minerals to produce hydrogen, a key fuel for growth in a thriving subterranean world.
