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The Intimate Ape: Orangutans and the Secret Life of a Vanishing Species by Shawn Thompson
A journalist travels to Sumatra and Borneo to study the apes and interview scientists. THE INTIMATE APE: ORANGUTANS AND THE SECRET LIFE OF A VANISHING SPECIES BY SHAWN THOMPSON Citadel Press, 2010, 292 p., $14.95.
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Letters
Making morphine The article “Chemists pin down poppy’s tricks for producing narcotic painkiller” (SN: 4/10/10, p. 5) may presage geopolitical changes in Afghanistan, regardless of whether there are engineered virus attacks or alternative crop programs. A technological advance like this one will eventually be used in the United States and Europe. Even if governments continue […]
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Confronting a third crisis in U.S. science education
Is science education broken in the United States? And if so, how should the country fix it? A working group of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has been investigating these long-standing questions and is expected to issue a report on its policy recommendations this month. Science News Contributing Editor Alexandra […]
- Health & Medicine
Taste of power goes to the head, then muscles
Just a swish of the carbohydrates in an energy drink can increase muscle performance, a study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Genetic switch makes old mice forgetful
Reversing a chemical change restored the animals’ memory-making ability.
- Life
Neandertal genome yields evidence of interbreeding with humans
After years of looking, geneticists are shocked to find that 1 percent to 4 percent of DNA in people from Europe and Asia is inherited from Neandertals.
- Chemistry
Decon Green can clean up the most toxic messes, developers claim
A new decontaminant could be a more benign alternative for cleaning up after chemical and biological accidents.
- Life
Undereducated immune cells get aggressive with HIV
Scientists discover a mechanism that makes some people resistant to infection with the AIDS virus.
- Space
New Hubble pictures suggest Milky Way fell together
A preliminary analysis appears to strike a blow against the prevailing theory of galaxy formation.
- Health & Medicine
U.S. childhood obesity rate continues to rise
Only a few states buck the trend toward greater weight gain in kids age 10 to 17, a new survey shows.
- Earth
Gulf oil spill a slow-motion hurricane
The accident’s timing could determine how badly it damages coastal marshes.
- Health & Medicine
Epigenetic changes show up in people with PTSD
Study finds alterations in genes tied to immune system and brain development, but whether they cause the disorder remains unclear.
