Uncategorized
- Astronomy
Images reveal possible origin of young stars
Astronomers say they have solved the riddle of how young, massive stars can reside so close to the monster black hole at the Milky Way's center.
- Planetary Science
One star better than two?
Rather than disrupting the planet-forming process around another star, a nearby companion may sometimes enhance it, new computer simulations suggest.
- Astronomy
Hubble spots North Star companion
Astronomers have obtained an image of a close companion star to Polaris, the North Star.
- Astronomy
Gravity at play
Astronomers have found 19 cosmic mirages, distorted images created when the gravity of a massive galaxy bends and magnifies the light from a background object.
- Materials Science
Making waves
Scientists have created thin, wavy silicon ribbons that stretch along with their rubber backing.
- Tech
Cranberry aid for assay
Cranberry juice, often used to stave off urinary-tract infections caused by Escherichia coli, also keeps the bacterium from reducing a biosensor's specificity.
- Humans
Letters from the January 21, 2006, issue of Science News
D. Durda, FIAAA/B612 Foundation Push, pull, zap, drench I’m surprised that NASA envisions an absurdly massive, nuclear-powered “gravitational tug” to avoid “the biggest problem” of a contact-tug’s need to “fir[e] its rocket engine only at specific times” to compensate for an asteroid’s rotation (“Protecting Earth: Gravitational tractor could lure asteroids off course,” SN: 11/12/05, p. […]
- Archaeology
Getting a read on early Maya writing
Excavators of a pyramid in northeastern Guatemala announced the discovery of the earliest known Maya writing.
- Tech
Is Anybody out There?
To speed the search for extraterrestrial life, researchers are using extreme conditions on Earth to develop a flotilla of detection devices to tease out signs of life in unlikely places.
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Just because living organisms were found in extreme conditions does not necessarily mean they were created in these localities. Another possibility is that the creation of life took place under more amenable conditions and that these organisms, through evolution, gradually adapted as the conditions changed. We shouldn’t assume that just because bacteria were found on […]
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This article illustrates one of the fascinating ways in which cellular automata have evolved into a truly useful analytical tool. However, would it not be more linguistically consistent, not to mention more accurate, to refer to the methodology as “in virtuo” rather than “in silico”? In another 50 years, the use of silicon as a […]
- Health & Medicine
In Pixels and in Health
By simulating individual cells and their behavior inside the human body using a computer technique called agent-based modeling, scientists are gaining new insight into disease progression.
