Uncategorized
-
Explaining the equation behind the oil spill disaster
Catastrophes come in all shapes and sizes, but some basic causative principles underlie most of them. Robert Bea, an engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, has studied system failures from space shuttle explosions to levee breaks during Hurricane Katrina — but as a former oil rig worker he is most familiar with drilling disasters. […]
- Physics
Physics in free fall
Physicists drop supercold atoms down an elevator shaft to see what will happen.
- Humans
For sight-reading music, practice doesn’t make perfect
Individual memory differences may set upper limits on pianists’ sight-reading skill, regardless of their experience.
- Health & Medicine
Genetic defect tied to autoimmune diseases
Rare mutations in an enzyme lead to several different disorders.
- Space
All flash, no crash
New Hubble Space Telescope images confirm that Jupiter emerged unscathed from an impactor that created a fireball above the planet’s cloud tops on June 3. The new images indicate that the object exploded as a meteor in the planet’s upper atmosphere rather than plunging into the atmosphere
- Space
Kepler craft reports apparent planetary bonanza
New results from an orbiting telescope promise to more than double the number of known extrasolar planets.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin B6 linked to lowered lung cancer risk
High levels of folate and the amino acid methionine also seem to help, a new study finds.
- Earth
Planes can trigger snowfall
Under certain conditions, aircraft can trigger precipitation as they pass through moisture-laden clouds.
- Life
Forget mice, elephants intimidated by ants
Swarms of little nuisances have an outsized effect on who nibbles which trees in the African savanna.
- Health & Medicine
H1N1 virus lacks Spanish flu’s killer protein
Researchers uncover a deadly secret of Spanish flu.
- Health & Medicine
Different berries, similar cancer-fighting effects
Animal tests suggest that esophageal and breast cancer might make good targets for several types of berries as dietary supplements.
- Humans
First Mexican-American and African-American genomes completed
Studies hint that genetic diversity among Native Americans may rival that seen in some African populations.
