Uncategorized
- Health & Medicine
Taking a Jab at Cancer
Vaccines that train a person's immune system to kill cancerous cells, when combined with drugs that block tumor defense mechanisms, are starting to show promise.
- Humans
Letters from the August 11, 2007, issue of Science News
Sum kids While testing was done on 5- or 6-year-old children (“Take a Number: Kids show math insights without instruction,” SN: 6/2/07, p. 341), it would be interesting to see if this intuitive skill persists after these students are exposed to standard mathematical instruction in the higher grades. I suspect that the answer will be […]
- Humans
From the July 31, 1937, issue
Giant dragonflies from the Carboniferous period, a dust cloud obscuring stars near the sky's north pole, and a list of 13 inventions predicted to have great social significance.
- Ecosystems
Biota Behaving Badly
Members of an established ecosystem develop a sense of balance, usually permitting at least limited biodiversity and a stable structure. When interlopers arrive that aren’t responsive to the same environmental checks and balances, they can overrun the ecosystem, eliminating some members and quickly dominating others. Such bullying immigrants are known as invasive species—and they can […]
- Health & Medicine
New Clues: Gene variations may contribute to MS risk
Variants of two genes encoding immune system proteins may confer a higher risk for multiple sclerosis.
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- Chemistry
Soot Sense: Test tallies exposure to diesel pollution
A chemical in urine reveals a person's exposure to diesel exhaust.
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Fatherless Stem Cells: Scientific fraud involved an accidental advance
Stem cells that discredited researcher Woo Suk Hwang claimed as the first example of human cloning actually came from embryos that contained only the mother's genetic material.
- Planetary Science
G Whiz! Craft identifies source of faint Saturnian ring
The Cassini spacecraft has discovered the source of particles that make up Saturn's G ring.
- Earth
Asian Forecast: Hazy, Warmer—Clouds of pollution heat lower atmosphere
Clouds of smoke and soot that blanket many regions of Asia heat the lower atmosphere by the same amount that rising greenhouse gases do.
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Conservation by America is not going to decrease global warming. We need to imitate known global-cooling events, such as the Krakatoa volcano explosion, which spread sunlight-reflecting dust into the stratosphere in 1883. A hydrogen bomb exploded inside a ship full of white clay could be a first step. Daniel ShanefieldHonolulu, Hawaii Recent research suggests that […]
- Health & Medicine
Waking Up: Brain stimulator spurs dramatic improvement years after injury
A man who spent 6 years in a minimally conscious state regained the ability to talk, eat, and move after doctors implanted electrodes deep in his brain.
