Uncategorized
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Out of Thin Air
Biologists dream of the day when they could engineer crops to make fertilizer out of the nitrogen in the air.
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All in the Family
Contrary to popular belief, species of salamanders, birds, beetles and fish prefer to mate with close kin.
- Humans
Letters from the April 12, 2008, issue of Science News
Dark star In “From Dark Matter to Light: New models of galaxy formation show the gastro in physics” (SN: 3/22/08, p. 186), Ron Cowen says that gas is where the action is since dark matter predominantly responds to only gravity. Because dark matter responds to gravity, wouldn’t it, like gas, be pulled into the star-making […]
- Earth
Sense of Wonder Contest
Rachel Carson aficionados will recognize The Sense of Wonder as the title of one of that environmentalist’s books. The Environmental Protection Agency is using that title to invite people young and old—literally and collaboratively—to explore that sense in poetry, essays, and photography. It’s inviting submissions from intergenerational teams “that best express the ‘Sense of Wonder’ […]
- Humans
From the April 2, 1938, issue
The science of tall tales, a fluorine-spouting volcano under ice, and viruses show signs of life.
- Animals
Comb jellies take root in a new tree of animal life
A team of biologists places comb jellies, not sponges, at the base of a new tree of animal life.
- Health & Medicine
Take a Breath: Fatty substance may play role in cystic fibrosis
A fatty compound called ceramide that accumulates in lung cells may be instrumental in the devastating disease cystic fibrosis.
- Health & Medicine
Traveling Toxin: Botox may hitch a ride on nerve cells
New evidence suggests that Botox migrates from the injection site, perhaps traveling along nerve cells.
- Paleontology
Salty Old Cellulose: Tiny fibers found in ancient halite deposits
Researchers have recovered microscopic bits of cellulose from 253-million-year-old salt deposits deep underground.
- Health & Medicine
Curbing Chemo: Fasting cushions drug’s side effects in mice
Two days of starvation kicks mice's cells into repair mode and helps them endure high doses of chemotherapy.
- Math
Creeping Up on Riemann
Theorists find the first example of an elusive complex function that just may help them solve the biggest problem in mathematics.
- Animals
Night Flights: Migrating moths may use a nighttime compass
Silver Y moths choose to fly when wind blows in the same direction that they migrate, and they may even compensate when the wind pushes them off-course.
