Uncategorized
- Plants
Smokey the Gardener
Wildfire smoke by itself, without help from heat, can trigger germination in certain seeds, but just what the vital compound in that smoke might be has kept biologists busy for years.
- Math
A Better Distorted View
The mathematics used to describe diffusion can also be used to generate maps based on population data.
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19454
I suggest that world maps with countries colored by some statistical feature often would be more useful if done on a cartogram that is a compromise between population and size of countries, rather than on a map with a simple Mercator projection. The problem of Earth’s curvature mentioned in the article would not seem to […]
- Humans
Letters from the August 28, 2004, issue of Science News
In spite of them? Evidently, death waits for no one, except in Belgium (“Death Waits for No One: Deferred demises take a couple of hits,” SN: 6/5/04, p. 356: Death Waits for No One: Deferred demises take a couple of hits). Around 40 years ago, Belgian doctors went on strike for 3 months. If I […]
- Math
Floating Bodies
An extension of work by Archimedes on the stability of floating bodies leads to some insights into the behavior of icebergs and other structures.
- Humans
From the August 18, 1934, issue
The Great Dust Storm of 1934, preferred sleep position and handedness, and tensor theory applied to electrical machinery.
- Tech
Aerodynamics for Beginners
NASA’s Glenn Research Center offers an extensive online tutorial on the basics of aerodynamics. Aimed at elementary and high school teachers, the site provides lots of useful information and has slides and worksheets suitable for classroom use at various levels. Go to: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bga.html
- Materials Science
Warm Reflections: Window tint kicks in when it’s hot
A novel window coating automatically transforms into a heat mirror only when warmed above room temperature.
- Earth
Early Shift: North Sea plankton and fish move out of sync
As ocean temperatures in the North Sea have warmed in recent decades, the life cycles of some species low in the food chain have accelerated significantly, sometimes wreaking ecological havoc.
- Health & Medicine
Finding a Missing Link: Scientists show a new connection between inflammation and cancer
Scientists studying gastrointestinal cancer in mice have found powerful evidence of a molecular connection between inflammation and cancer.
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Lifting the Mood: Depressed teens benefit from combined therapy
Treatment that includes both an antidepressant drug and talk therapy is especially beneficial for teenagers diagnosed with major depression.
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Rattle and Hum: Molecular machinery makes yeast cells purr
Molecular-motor proteins inside a yeast cell can cause the cell walls to vibrate.
