Uncategorized
- Materials Science
Making the Most of It
A recent crop of studies demonstrates how nature finds strength in unlikely places.
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Nonstick chemicals upset behavior
A study in mice finds that early-life exposure to the fluorinated chemicals used in nonstick products can rewire the brain in ways that dramatically affect behavior.
- Chemistry
Drinking increases skin’s permeability
Drinking alcohol can greatly compromise the skin's barrier to chemicals.
- Earth
Leaden streets
Street grit is the probable source of lead in urban homes, and flaking paint from overpasses and bridges is a major contributor.
- Health & Medicine
Moldy whiff kills brain cells
A common black mold that blooms on moist cellulose-based materials produces a toxin that can kill certain brain cells.
- Chemistry
Busted bonds
The tenacious bonds between two carbon atoms can be broken in a surprisingly simple process.
- Anthropology
Capuchins resist inbreeding chances
Wild capuchin monkeys manage to avoid inbreeding, despite rampant opportunities for high-status fathers to mate with their grown daughters.
- Astronomy
Glassy galaxies
Astronomers have found clouds of sand crystals resembling crushed glass around 21 infrared-bright galaxies.
- Animals
Woodpecker video is challenged and defended
The video released last spring as evidence that the ivory-billed woodpecker exists may show a common pileated woodpecker, some critics say.
- Math
Winning with a Winding Random Walk
A two-dimensional random walk takes a frustratingly long time to complete a circuit.
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- Humans
Explore Your Knowledge
Test your math and science knowledge at the National Center for Education Statistics Web site. Select a test topic and grade level (4th or 8th grade), then see how you do on a set of multiple-choice questions. The questions are from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Go to: http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/eyk/
