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When this article says that “scientists don’t expect traditional silicon-based solar cells to become competitive with fossil fuels,” one has to ask, “Ever?” Can anyone accurately predict the future price of polysilicon or of fossil fuels? Peter A. KaczowkaLenox, Mass. Your article notes as a put-down that it would be necessary to build a 1-gigawatt […]
- Health & Medicine
Dangerous History
The genome of the TB bacterium has small but significant pockets of diversity, giving scientists new targets for preventing and treating the disease.
- Math
Covering New Ground with Polygons
Mathematicians can cover larger areas than they'd realized using polygons with fixed diameters.
- Humans
Letters from the May 26, 2007, issue of Science News
It’s cold out there I couldn’t help noticing the last sentence of “World’s climate map gets an update” (SN: 3/24/07, p. 190): “One of the system’s 30 possible climate subtypes—a temperate climate with a cold, dry summer—wasn’t found anywhere on Earth.” The comment reveals that the writer has never read Mark Twain’s comment that the […]
- Humans
From the May 15, 1937, issue
A new seat of learning, hazards to workers, and a machine with feeling.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer Risk—Understanding the Puzzle
The news is filled with stories about cancer risk. Some of the information can be confusing and contradictory. How do you know what to believe? This new Web site from the National Cancer Institute cuts through the hype to help you understand the plain and simple truth about cancer risk. Go to: http://understandingrisk.cancer.gov
- Chemistry
Cleaning Treasures: Safer solvents for restoring frescoes
Solvents in nanoscale droplets can be used to clean centuries-old frescoes, saving them from the unintended consequences of previous restorations.
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Another Layer of Complexity: Short lengths of RNA could provide new form of genetic control
Researchers have discovered a new way that so-called junk DNA could help regulate gene activity.
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Fly Moves: Insects buzz about in organized abandon
Fruit flies display a penchant for spontaneous behavior that represents an evolutionary building block of voluntary choice, also known as free will, a controversial study suggests.
- Planetary Science
Water World: Extrasolar planet is loaded with hot ice
Astronomers have found a Neptune-size planet outside the solar system that's composed mainly of water solidified under high pressure.
- Animals
Low Life: Cold, polar ocean looks surprisingly rich
The first survey of life in deep waters around Antarctica has turned up hundreds of new species and a lot more variety than explorers had expected.
- Earth
Biological Hot Spots: Ocean eddies may not always lock away carbon
The carbon in the tissues of organisms that bloom inside some ocean eddies doesn't always sink to the ocean floor to be locked away in sediments when those organisms die.
