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In reference to this article, scarcity requires society to allocate. Usually markets do a better job than law at allocating efficiently and fairly. Lake Mead could remain full to the brim regardless of pending climate change. The quoted “demand” for 16.6 km3 of Lake Mead water in Southern California and Arizona is not some fixed […]
- Earth
Going Down: Climate change, water use threaten Lake Mead
If climate changes as expected and future water use is not curtailed, there's a 50 percent chance that Arizona's Lake Mead, one of the southwestern United States' key reservoirs, will become functionally dry in the next couple of decades.
- Health & Medicine
Benign—Not: Unexpected deaths in probiotics study
Acute pancreatitis patients provided nutrition laced with supposedly beneficial gut microbes died at far higher rates than did patients who received just the nutrients.
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Jelly Propulsion
Jellyfish have been swimming the seas for at least 550 million years, and research is now revealing how the challenges of moving in fluid have shaped the creatures' evolution.
- Humans
Letters from the February 23, 2008, issue of Science News
Music of sound I was intrigued by the article “Embracing the Dark Side” (SN: 2/2/08, p. 74). It states: “The interaction of gravity, matter, and radiation in the early universe set up acoustic oscillations, cosmic sound waves that left their imprints on the distribution of galaxies across the sky.” Spanish poet Antonio Machado [1875–1939] put […]
- Animals
People bring both risk and reward to chimps
Tolerating human researchers and ecotourists brought a group of chimpanzees a higher risk of catching human diseases but a lower chance of attacks from poachers.
- Earth
Spying asbestos
A quick, on-site test will allow contractors and inspectors to test for asbestos in construction materials such as concrete.
- Astronomy
Organic ring around nearby star
Researchers have found the first evidence that a dust ring around another star, the likely vestige of recent planet formation, contains complex organic molecules that could be the building blocks of life.
- Paleontology
From China, the tiniest pterodactyl
Researchers excavating the fossil-rich rocks of northeastern China have discovered yet another paleontological marvel: a flying reptile the size of a sparrow.
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It takes a village of proteins
Scientists learn how nerve cells sprout new connections by looking at thousands of distinct proteins simultaneously.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer drug limits MS relapses
The anticancer drug retuximab inhibits nerve damage and relapses in multiple sclerosis patients.
- Physics
Birds network too
Starlings in a flock adjust their trajectories to those of their closest neighbors, which helps the flock stay together when under attack.
