Uncategorized
- Physics
Fundamental constant didn’t vary after all
In disagreement with prior findings, an analysis of new quasar observations indicates that alpha, the universal constant that defines the strength of the electromagnetic force, has not varied since the early days of the cosmos.
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19413
I am not an advocate of capital punishment, but I wonder whether the people and organizations who are so anxious to use findings on brain maturity to raise the age of capitol punishment have considered the consequences of winning their case. One might argue on the same basis that anyone who has not yet reached […]
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Teen Brains on Trial
Scientific opinions differ about whether evidence on delayed maturation of the adolescent brain should be used to argue that teenagers have reduced culpability for crimes and thus should be exempt from the death penalty.
- Health & Medicine
Delaying Dementia
The limited success of attempts to treat Alzheimer's disease with several compounds that appear able to prevent the disorder suggests that the window for derailing the development of the illness may close years before cognitive decline becomes evident.
- Math
Counting on Fibonacci
Fibonacci numbers and their relationships can be visualized in terms of tilings.
- Physics
The Electron’s Other Charge: Workhorse of electricity shows its weak side
Although electrons are nonnuclear particles, they exert a feeble nuclear force on each other when they snuggle up close, a new experiment shows.
- Earth
It’s a Gas: Trees emit unknown volatile substances
The chemical reactions taking place just above a northern Michigan forest hint that trees there and elsewhere may be emitting highly reactive gaseous substances that scientists haven't yet identified or directly detected.
- Humans
Mouse Mourned: Yoda dies at age 4
An age-defying laboratory mouse known as Yoda died peacefully in his cage in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 22, at the age of 4 years and 12 days.
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19412
Your article suggests that somehow X rays caused low-birth-weight babies in women who had their teeth X-rayed during their pregnancies. Here is an alternative possibility: Perhaps unhealthy people are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies and bad teeth. Stephen WoodOrlando, FL. The article hypothesizes that the dental X-rays hitting the thyroid glands of pregnant women […]
- Health & Medicine
Unsettling Association: Dental X rays linked to low-birth-weight babies
Getting dental X rays while pregnant might increase a woman's risk of giving birth to a low-birth-weight baby.
- Earth
Harm from Plastic Additive Challenged: Early exposure shows no ill effects
Presumed exposure shortly after birth to a chemical ingredient in plastics shows no evidence of disrupting development in people, according to a small study of teens who, as newborns, received intensive medical care involving plastic hospital equipment.
- Archaeology
Stone Age Combustion: Fire use proposed at ancient Israeli site
A Stone Age site in Israel contains the oldest evidence of controlled fire use in Asia or Europe, from around 750,000 years ago, a research team reports.
