Uncategorized
- Planetary Science
A crack at life
New images of ancient cracks on Mars suggest that liquid may have percolated through underground rock on the Red Planet, providing a possible habitat for primitive life.
- Health & Medicine
Long-Term Threat
Survivors of a childhood cancer face a sixfold risk of developing a new cancer later in life, compared with people in the general population.
- Earth
Not-So-Perma Frost
The world's warming climate, as well as ecological shifts in the timing and frequency of wildfires in boreal forests, pose an increasing threat to Arctic permafrost.
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19802
Among estrogenic pollutants, by far the worst offender is 17-alpha ethinyl estradiol, the most common estrogen in oral contraceptives used by tens of millions of women. This synthetic steroid is of necessity non-biodegradable, at least by human liver. Otherwise, it would not work as a pill. Joel BrindCity University of New YorkNew York, N.Y.
- Earth
Traces of Trouble
Scientists and engineers are investigating how to stem the flow of naturally-occurring and synthetic estrogens that, when released from waste water treatment plants and livestock operations, can harm aquatic life.
- Math
Ancient Islamic Penrose Tiles
Medieval Islamic artisans developed a process for creating elaborate, nonrepeating patterns now associated with Penrose tiles.
- Humans
From the February 27, 1937, issue
Testing thermometers, measuring clouds, and a very useful mineral.
- Humans
Lucid Movement
Lucid Movement is a regularly updated video blog that documents the world through the lens of a high-speed video camera. The resulting videos give viewers unique perspectives on a wide range of phenomena in the world around them, depicting motions that are ordinarily too fast for the human eye to see. Go to: http://www.lucidmovement.com/
- Paleontology
Ancient slowpoke
A 1-centimeter-long, 505-million-year-old fossil from British Columbia represents a creature that joins two lineages of marine invertebrates from that era that scientists previously hadn't linked.
- Earth
Equal Opportunity Outcome: Different pollutants show same impact
At concentrations present in the environment, each of three dissimilar toxic agents can seize control of a signaling pathway that regulates developing cells in the central nervous system.
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Natural-Born Addicts: Brain differences may herald drug addiction
Differences in the behavior and the brain receptors of rats seem to predict which of the rodents will become cocaine addicted.
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19801
This article describes an elegant study. I found the 7 percent addiction-susceptible figure interestingly similar to the 10 percent of people who drink alcohol who become addicted. I wonder if similar percentages of other species are impulsive and vulnerable. Ellen WaggenerPoughkeepsie, N.Y.
