Uncategorized
- Humans
Letters from the September 3, 2005, issue of Science News
Pick of the crop “Honey, We Shrank the Snow Lotus: Picking big plants reduces species’ height” (SN: 7/9/05, p. 20) suggests that the change is an evolutionary process. However, this and the other examples given are all more selective breeding than natural selection. In this case, organisms with undesirable characteristics (smaller size) are overrepresented during […]
- Humans
Movies put smoking in a bad light
Smokers in American films are more likely to be villains than heroes, a review of movies from the 1990s shows.
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Chimps ape others to learn tool use
Chimpanzees appear to develop traditions of tool use by copying one another's behavior and conforming to a successful approach.
- Earth
Can polluted air cause birth defects?
For the second time, scientists have found evidence suggesting that prenatal exposure to air pollution may cause certain birth defects.
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People with malaria attract more mosquitoes
The protozoan causing malaria may facilitate its own spread by making people more alluring to mosquitoes.
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Placebo reins in pain in brain
Pain relief provided by inert medications may reflect increased transmission of a brain chemical involved in regulating stress and suppressing pain.
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The research into placebos’ pain relief in this article should probably be tied in with the recent work utilizing hypnotism for pain relief. It may well be that the two turn on the same centers of the brain. C. Norman WinningstadNewport, Ore.
- Astronomy
Hidden black holes
A new study has added to existing evidence that most of the monster black holes at the cores of galaxies are shrouded by dust.
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Rice, revealed
Researchers have finished a 6-year-long effort to sequence the genome of rice.
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19586
I note that pleasure activates the neurobiological response that fuels addictive behavior. It has long been a tenet of the 12-step programs that there is no pleasure greater than to use one’s talents to help others similarly afflicted. Perhaps we shouldn’t discount the neurological effect of that activity. Betsy (last name withheld) It’s a fact […]
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Food Fix
Scientists have discovered a number of neurological connections between drug addiction and obesity.
- Math
Armor-Plated Puzzle
Behind the beautiful patterns of many viral shells lie principles of pure physics and mathematics that scientists have illuminated in recent theoretical studies.
