Uncategorized
- Humans
Letters from the March 29, 2008, issue of Science News
Why switch to grass? Regarding “Switchgrass may yield biofuel bounty” (SN: 1/19/08, p. 46): Distilleries have been around since the dawn of time, including barleycorn (whiskey), maize (whiskey), potatoes (vodka), sugarcane (rum), and arcane brews distilled from beets, bread crumbs, and bamboo. The ethanol molecule cares not one wit about its particular provenance, so what […]
- Math
Sacred Geometry
Beginning in the 17th century, the Japanese adorned temples with beautiful wooden tablets that depicted mathematical questions and theorems, apparently as offerings to the gods.
- Humans
From the March 19, 1938, issue
A unique, parabolic motion picture, an aircraft pioneer contemplates the future of flight, and a formula to link large and small.
- Earth
Floral Cues to Climate Change
Phenology may not be a word that trips off your tongue, but it may be one you want to consider adding to your vocabulary. It has the same root as phenomena, and in fact deals with biological events linked to climate—such as bird migrations and plant germination. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research has set […]
- Plants
Floral Shocker: Blooms shake roots of flowering-plant family
A tiny aquatic plant, once thought to be related to grasses, raises new questions about the evolution of the earliest flowering plants.
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- Earth
New Recipe for Pollution Stew: Another chemical culprit adds to ozone
A reactive chemical in urban air cleans up some pollutants but could introduce another.
- Astronomy
In the Beginning: More early clues for life at home, out there
Astronomers move closer to understanding how life arose on Earth and how it could arise elsewhere.
- Health & Medicine
Long-life Link: Gut protein ties low insulin to longevity
A new link between insulin and aging adds to scientists' understanding of longevity and points to possible targets for life-extending therapies.
- Animals
Finch Concerts: Female bird brain notes male attention
Male zebra finches sing slightly differently when serenading a female as opposed to twittering to themselves, and females react to those differences.
- Animals
Love Code: A twist of light only mantis shrimp can see
Alone in the animal kingdom, these crustaceans signal their presence to potential mates with circularly polarized light.
- Health & Medicine
Bad Blood? Old units might be substandard
Heart patients who get transfusions of donated blood that's kept more than 14 days fare worse than patients who get fresher blood.
