Uncategorized
- Health & Medicine
Good Light: Sun early in life could protect against MS
Childhood exposure to direct sunshine may protect people against developing multiple sclerosis later.
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Weighting for Friends: Obesity spreads in social networks
Obesity spreads as a social contagion through networks of friends and relatives, apparently because associating with overweight people encourages a laxer attitude toward weight gain.
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19862
People don’t need another reason to shun fat people. This group represents the last scapegoat for righteous discrimination in our image-obsessed society. There are myriad reasons a person becomes obese. Friendship is not one of them. Shawn DehneLittleton, Colo. As such studies progress, it will be interesting to learn if the opposite—weight loss—is also influenced […]
- Math
A Twist on the Möbius Band
The twisted, single-sided loop known as a Möbius band, when made from a stiff material such as paper, takes on a complicated shape that researchers have finally calculated.
- Humans
Universities seek armchair astronomers
Scientists are recruiting online help from the public to classify the shapes of 1 million galaxies in never-before-viewed photographs.
- Humans
Letters from the July 28, 2007, issue of Science News
Gyro Q & A Doesn’t “Spinning into Control” (SN: 05/19/07, p. 312) on flywheels leave out a significant aspect: the gyroscope effects of a rotating large mass? Wouldn’t it be a benefit for moving installations (stabilization) and a problem for immobile installations? Lee HukillPalo Alto, Calif. In the article, the flywheels depicted appear to have […]
- Health & Medicine
Perception is longevity
Mice lived longer when they were fooled into sensing lower insulin levels than they actually had.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s retinue: 60 and counting
A little moon, two kilometers across, is Saturn's 60th satellite.
- Earth
Erosion accelerates along Alaskan coast
Alaska's northern coast is falling into the sea at an accelerating rate.
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Old viruses have new tricks
Invading viruses can trick a cell into turning off its defense mechanisms.
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Antidepressants trim suicide tries
Treating depression with antidepressant drugs reduces the risk of suicide.
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19861
I was surprised to find no mention in this article of the possibility that the decline in suicide attempts might be owed merely to the hope generated by beginning a treatment, rather than the treatment itself. I have known depression sufferers to be nearly euphoric after starting a new treatment. Karen AikenSan Francisco, Calif.
