Uncategorized
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Lab Coats in Hollywood: Science, Scientists, and Cinema by David A. Kirby
A behind-the-scenes peek at how science consultants have helped movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Beautiful Mind try to present science realistically. MIT Press, 2011, 265 p., $27.95.
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Atlas of Oceans: An Ecological Survey of Underwater Life by John Farndon
This richly illustrated survey of marine life introduces basic principles of oceanography and highlights the hazards of environmental degradation. Yale Univ. Press, 2011, 256 p., $50.
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Letters
Nuclear recycling In all I’ve read in the popular press about spent nuclear fuel, including “Natural catastrophe begets nuclear crisis” (SN: 4/9/11, p. 6), all that is written about is on-site storage or burial. Why is reprocessing of the fuel never seriously considered? I understand that the French have done it successfully for years. Are […]
- Health & Medicine
Don’t share that clarinet
Bacteria can linger on woodwind instruments, particularly those with reeds, for days, a new study finds.
- Space
Milky Way may get an extension
A newly discovered feature at its fringes suggests the galaxy is an uncommon beauty: One half appears to be nearly a mirror image of the other.
- Life
Your gut microbes are what you eat
A mammal's diet strongly influences what kinds of microorganisms live in its intestines.
- Psychology
Eyes take gossip to heart
Reading negative gossip about someone makes that person’s face easier to perceive.
- Life
Numbers flap has minor implications for global extinctions
A statistical technique used to estimate rates of species disappearance is flawed, two ecologists charge — but not enough to invalidate recent dire assessments.
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- Humans
Geographic profiling fights disease
Widely used to snare serial criminals, a forensic method finds application in epidemiology.
- Health & Medicine
No pain, healthier brain
When chronic back problems are treated, benefits extend above the neck.
- Space
Atom & Cosmos
Liquid water possible on Earthlike planet, plus black-hole atoms, Io’s magma ocean and more in this week’s news.
