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- Humans
Letters from the November 26, 2005, issue of Science News
Roads to ruin? Chloride concentration in streams should be a concern to everyone. However, projecting problems at century’s end based on the present rate of chloride increase is bad science (“Steep Degrade Ahead: Road salt threatens waters in Northeast,” SN: 9/24/05, p. 195). Salt use in some New England areas has roughly doubled in the […]
By Science News -
Beyond Einstein
On Dec. 1, 2005, CERN and its partners will present a 12-hour webcast celebrating the achievements of Albert Einstein, as the World Year of Physics 2005 draws to an end. The program will feature a world tour of major physics laboratories and science museums, commentary from prominent physicists on the impact of Einstein’s discoveries and […]
By Science News -
From the November 23, 1935, issue
Experiments at record altitudes, an increase in malaria deaths, and sending facsimiles by radio.
By Science News - Astronomy
Ring around the galaxy
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the largest number ever of elliptical galaxies with Einstein rings, a marker of gravitational lensing.
By Katie Greene -
DNA Clues to Our Kind: Regulatory gene linked to human evolution
A gene that exerts wide-ranging effects on the brain works harder in people than it does in chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates.
By Bruce Bower -
Danger Mouse: Deleting a gene transforms timid rodents into daredevils
By removing one gene from a mouse's standard repertoire, scientists have turned a timid animal into an intrepid one.
- Earth
Nonstick Taints: Fluorochemicals are in us all
A new federal study strongly suggests that all U.S. residents harbor measurable traces of fluorochemicals, compounds found in a host of consumer products.
By Janet Raloff - Animals
Unway Sign: Ant pheromone stops traffic
Researchers have found a new kind of traffic sign on ant trails, a chemical "Do not enter" that keeps foragers from wasting their time on paths that don't lead to food.
By Susan Milius - Earth
Roots of Climate: Plants’ water transport cools Amazon basin
Field tests in the Amazon have for the first time measured daily and seasonal movements of soil moisture through the deep roots of trees.
By Sid Perkins - Materials Science
Atom Hauler: Molecular rig snags multi-atom loads
Specialists in atomic-scale construction can now use a new molecule to gather small groups of atoms and drop them, as clusters, at specific locations.
By Peter Weiss - Health & Medicine
Natural Ingredients: Method grows vessels from one’s own cells
Starting with bits of skin, scientists have produced new blood vessels in a laboratory and successfully implanted them into two patients.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Pill eases craving
An experimental drug called varenicline helps cigarette smokers kick the habit better than bupropion does, the most effective medicine currently on the market.
By Nathan Seppa