Uncategorized
-
Female brains know how to fold ’em
Women compensate for the smaller overall volume of their brains by squeezing more folds into some of the space than men do.
By Bruce Bower -
19443
Not to detract from this project’s accomplishments or its potential, but does space really need tourists? It’s not a sideshow. It will still be dangerous and expensive. Assuming that space travel will be like today’s airline travel is mistaken, especially in the near term. Let’s remember that this project’s success so far also rests on […]
By Science News -
Tech
Outer space on the cheap
The first-ever private, manned space mission occurred on June 21.
By Peter Weiss -
Physics
Quantum snare entraps key fifth photon
By coaxing five quantum particles into a state of entanglement, physicists have taken an important step toward dependable quantum computers and more-versatile schemes for transferring quantum information.
By Peter Weiss -
Earth
Bacteria found to release arsenic into groundwater
Arsenic gets into groundwater largely through the action of bacteria residing in aquifer sediments.
-
Health & Medicine
Four die of rabies in transplanted tissues
Four people who received tissue transplanted from a man who had died from an undiagnosed rabies infection have since themselves died from the same incurable neurological disease.
By Ben Harder -
19442
This article didn’t mention that professional journals usually charge exorbitant page charges, require that a paper be sent in a format that can be directly typeset, and price print and electronic subscriptions identically. What I conclude from this is that greed is as prevalent at professional societies as it is in the commercial world. Edmond […]
By Science News -
Humans
The high cost of staying current
Reading peer-reviewed journals remains a primary means by which researchers stay on top of developments in their fields, but the annual costs for these periodicals are steep.
By Janet Raloff -
Tech
Nanorods go for the gold
Gold blobs grown onto the ends of tiny, rod-shaped crystals provide potential points for electric contact and chemical liaisons that could enable such semiconductor bits to self-organize into complex circuits or structures.
By Peter Weiss -
Earth
Treaty enacted to preserve crop biodiversity
The United Nations enacted a new international treaty to halt the erosion of genetic diversity of crops.
By Janet Raloff -
19441
This otherwise well-written and fascinating article contains an error. You write, “Because magnesium is more strongly attracted to oxygen than to silicon, magnesium atoms elbow out the silicon . . . .” The correct statement would be, “Because magnesium is more strongly attracted to oxygen than silicon is attracted to oxygen, magnesium atoms elbow out […]
By Science News -
Materials Science
Diatom Menagerie
Materials scientists are trying to coerce diatoms into making silicon-based microdevices with specific features.