Uncategorized
- Anthropology
Faithful Ancestors
A controversial fossil analysis supports the view that, more than 3 million years ago, human ancestors living in eastern Africa favored long-term mating partnerships.
-
19558
This article seems determined to impose (not very) modern cultural views on data that do not support them. Females would have benefited from a male “bringing home food”?! To the best of our knowledge Australopithecus afarensis was a foraging species, members of all ages and both sexes eating what they found as they found it. […]
- Animals
Comeback Bird
Looking for a long-lost woodpecker had its special challenges, including anticipating what would happen if the hunt actually succeeded.
-
- Humans
From the June 1, 1935, issue
High-voltage circuit breakers, harnessing tides for electric power, and confirming the existence of the Sargasso Sea.
- Earth
Sustainable Resource Use
This British Web site provides educational material about the sustainable use of resources, including water, waste management, textiles, and timber. It provides puzzles, experiments, worksheets, and lesson plans, with links to a wide range of environmental information. Go to: http://www.e4s.org.uk/
- Humans
Letters from the June 4, 2005, issue of Science News
Stem winder “Full Stem Ahead” (SN: 4/2/05, p. 218) showed several reasons why stem cell research is a good thing: Stem cells from embryos might cure cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and many other diseases. But the article should have included the fact that stem cells may help with transplanting organs. Stem cells may […]
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine Gains: Shot protects seniors from shingles flare-ups
An experimental vaccine prevents half of all cases of shingles, a painful skin disease that typically afflicts the elderly.
- Tech
Smart Trap: Nanosensor tracks major brain chemical
The study of neurological diseases and brain functions could get a lot more precise with the invention of an optical sensor that can closely monitor a key chemical in the brain.
-
Decoding Garlic’s Pizzazz: Extract stimulates taste, temperature receptors
Raw garlic's characteristic spiciness stems from its capacity to open channels on nerve cells that react both to tastes and noxious temperatures.
-
Investing on a Whiff: Chemical spray shows power as trust booster
Individuals who smell a brain hormone known as oxytocin become unusually trusting of others in financial transactions.
- Planetary Science
High Anxiety: Sudden solar flare highlights space risks
Measurements of energetic particles from an unusually strong solar flare that pummeled Earth early this year suggest that astronauts traveling or working in space might sometimes need to reach shelter within minutes of a warning.
