Uncategorized
- Humans
Letters from the September 30, 2006, issue of Science News
Not a pretty picture “Deadly Disorder: Imagined-ugliness illness yields high suicide rate” (SN: 7/22/06, p. 52) raises some questions. What about people who are physically unattractive—those whom a majority of the society considers ugly? I suspect that many people treated for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are unattractive by that definition. The psychiatric profession tends to […]
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- Humans
From the September 19, 1936, issue
A nebula photographed, thin films, and cancer as uncontrolled cell growth.
- Earth
Tox Town
This Web site from the U.S. National Library of Medicine offers an interactive introduction to toxic chemicals and environmental health risks that people might encounter in everyday life and in everyday places. The site includes many links to additional information and a section for teachers. Go to: http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/
- Tech
Long-Sought Laser? Standard microchips may gain speedy optical connections
Although not made exclusively of silicon, a new type of laser runs on electricity and could be mass manufactured in the same factories as silicon microchips are.
- Paleontology
Flying with Their Legs: Hind feathers made primitive bird nimble
The earliest-known bird had feathers on its legs that may have provided lift for flight, improving its maneuverability.
- Animals
Crickets on Mute: Hush falls as killer fly stalks singers
Within just 5 years, singing has nearly died out among a population of cricket on a Hawaiian island.
- Health & Medicine
UV Blocker: Lotion yields protective tan in fair-skinned mice
A lotion that stimulates production of the skin pigment melanin induces a deep tan in specially bred laboratory mice.
- Astronomy
Enigmatic Eruptions: Gamma-ray bursts lack supernova fireworks
The most powerful bursts in the universe may have gotten more mysterious.
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19732
This article states that gamma-ray bursts are “a million trillion times as bright as the sun.” The sun is so bright that humans can’t look directly at it from 93 million miles away. How can we possibly wrap our minds around something a million trillion times brighter? Astronomy is great. Donald KaufmannPhiladelphia, Pa. ?
- Health & Medicine
Graveyard Shift: Prostate cancer linked to rotating work schedule
Men who alternate between daytime and nighttime shifts on their jobs have triple the normal rate of prostate cancer, according to a Japanese nationwide study.
- Anthropology
Evolution’s Child: Fossil puts youthful twist on Lucy’s kind
Researchers have announced the discovery of the oldest and most complete fossil child in our evolutionary family yet found.
