Uncategorized
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19853
This article offers two explanations for the correlation of asthma with early infancy antibiotics: a need for the immune system to be trained by early exposure to microbial toxins and a need for normal intestinal microflora in the development of normal immune response. Another possibility is that the rashes and infections that prompted the use […]
- Physics
Smallest laser minds the gap
The smallest, most efficient laser yet represents a step toward speedier information transfer within computers.
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Oldest siblings show slight IQ advantage
The oldest boys in families, including those who became oldest after the death of an earlier-born brother, have a slight IQ edge over their younger siblings.
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Enzyme is target in parasite
The flatworm that causes the tropical disease schistosomiasis may be vulnerable to drugs that neutralize an essential enzyme in the parasite.
- Physics
Pas de deux for a three-scoop particle
Physicists have discovered the first particle containing one member of each of the three families of quarks.
- Health & Medicine
Linking stress and senility
A gene that's active in the brain may help explain why emotional stress seems to increase a person's likelihood of getting Alzheimer's disease.
- Humans
Letters from the July 7, 2007, issue of Science News
Hex sine? The NASA researchers baffled by the hexagonal shape in Saturn’s soupy atmosphere at its northern pole (“A hexagon on the ringed planet,” SN: 4/28/07, p. 269) should read “As waters part, polygons appear” (SN: 6/3/06, p. 348). It is worth investigating whether there is a similar phenomenon—I still suspect some sort of standing […]
- Earth
Icebergs can be biological hot spots
Icebergs carry nutrients from the land and shed them into the sea, nourishing life in the frigid waters near Antarctica.
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Blind people excel at serial recall
Blind people recall strings of words better than sighted people do, perhaps because of their greater reliance on memory in dealing with the tasks of daily life.
- Health & Medicine
Restoring Scents
Experimental treatments may activate the sense of smell in people who can detect few or no odors.
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19852
This article concerning schizophrenia in Palau reported a high incidence of the disorder among first- and second-generation immigrants to the West from developing countries. Could the phenomenon of relatively successful immigrants to the West (or their children) being drawn into acts of terrorism be a manifestation of schizophrenia? Robert E. HubbardWinter Haven, Fla. Schizophrenia isn’t […]
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Trouble in Paradise
Schizophrenia strikes inhabitants of the Micronesian nation of Palau, especially the men, at an unusually high rate, raising questions about culture's role in a disease usually regarded as purely biological.
