Uncategorized
- Humans
Study finds bias in peer review
Researchers have found evidence of bias when scientists review data and the researcher's name and affiliation are available to the reviewers.
- Animals
Bird hormone cuts noise distractions
A jolt of springtime hormones makes a female sparrow's brain more responsive to song.
- Planetary Science
The Whole Enceladus
Saturn's moon Enceladus has become the hottest new place to look for life in the chilly outer solar system.
- Earth
Particular Problems
Toxicologists and chemists are forging a new field called nanotoxicology as they grapple with assessing the safety of engineered nanoparticles.
- Math
Constructing Difference Engines
Antique calculators resurface as Lego or Meccano models. For more math, visit the MathTrek blog.
- Humans
From the April 25, 1936, issue
An old-fashioned tower, alcohol in fuel, and knowledge in atoms and cosmic rays.
- Planetary Science
The Mysterious Smell of Moondust
Long after the last Apollo astronaut left the moon, a mystery lingers: Why does moondust smell like gunpowder? In this account, astronauts describe the surprising smell and taste of moondust, which they experienced firsthand inside their lunar landers. The dust gave one astronaut a case of hay fever. Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/30jan_smellofmoondust.htm
- Health & Medicine
Small Wonder: Taking the bite out of anthrax toxin
Using a submicroscopic synthetic blob called a liposome, scientists have neutralized anthrax toxin in rats.
- Animals
Grammar’s for the Birds: Human-only language rule? Tell starlings
A grammatical pattern called recursion, once proposed as unique to human language, turns out to fall within the learning abilities of starlings.
-
19674
While reading in this article that starlings may be capable of discerning grammatical patterns, I recalled the FOXP2 gene. The gene seems to be involved in the development of areas of the brain involved in speech in humans. Variants of FOXP2 were found in a family whose members shared a rare speech disorder. In gene […]
-
19673
This article refers repeatedly to black holes “swallowing matter and spitting out [or sending out] energy.” What really “spits out” or “sends out” anything is not the black hole itself, but the disk of gas that’s in the process of being mostly sucked irreversibly into the black hole. Bruce MoomawCameron Park, Calif.
- Astronomy
Energy-Saving Space Engines: Black holes can be green
Some seemingly quiet black holes are actually efficient engines that emit jets of high-energy particles.
