Uncategorized
- Animals
Myth of the Bad-Nose Birds
Even though a lot of people still believe birds have no sense of smell, certain species rely on their noses for important jobs, such as finding food and shelter, and maybe even a mate.
-
19585
I wonder if any of the researchers had a pet bird. My Alexandrine parakeet can smell beer or ice cream from two rooms away—She screams for her share. Bruce DowRidge Manor, Fla.
- Math
Strange Orbits
Orbiting bodies can follow weird trajectories, from figure-eight loops to complex, interlocked paths.
- Humans
From the August 10, 1935, issue
A silencer for artificial lightning, a trigger for epilepsy, and light that keeps plants from growing.
- Archaeology
The Iceman Cometh
A Web site maintained by Italy’s South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology offers an illustrated look at scientific efforts to understand the life and death of Oetzi the Iceman, who perished in Europe’s Alps more than 5,000 years ago only to be discovered in mummified form by hikers in 1991. Explore Oetzi’s clothing, equipment, and tattoos, […]
- Paleontology
Just for Frills?
The more that paleontologists scrutinize some dinosaurs' plates, frills, and other anatomical oddities, the more they suspect that the rationale behind these features is simply the need to be recognizably different.
-
19584
The plates on Stegosaurus and the fleshy, domed skulls on pachycephalosaurs could certainly have been for recognition, but not the kind of recognition cited in this article comparing it to teen fashion. Isn’t flashy recognition often a sign that says, “Don’t eat me because I am poisonous”? There may have been enough noxious secretions in […]
-
A Slumber Not So Sweet: Loss of brain cells that regulate breathing may cause death during sleep
Elderly people may die in their sleep because they gradually lose brain cells that control breathing.
- Health & Medicine
New Carrier: Common tick implicated in spread of fever
The brown dog tick is capable of spreading the bacterium that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
- Astronomy
Three’s Company: Asteroid 87 Sylvia and her two moons
Astronomers have for the first time discovered an asteroid with two moons, an indication that the rock is highly porous.
- Tech
Electronic Leap: Plastic component may lead to ubiquitous radio tags
Tiny radio circuits cheap enough to be embedded into countless products have moved closer to reality with the development of a fast, plastic semiconductor diode.
- Animals
Out of the Jungle: New lemurs found in Madagascar’s forests
Two new species of lemur have been discovered in Madagascar, the only home of these tiny and endangered primates.
