Uncategorized
- Materials Science
Sea urchin shell lights the way for optical material
Using the porous skeleton of a sea urchin as a template, materials scientists have fabricated a photonic crystal.
- Agriculture
Bees increase coffee profits
Scientists studying a Costa Rican coffee farm have estimated the monetary value of conserving nearby wooded habitat for the bees that pollinate coffee plants.
By Ben Harder - Humans
Letters from the August 21, 2004, issue of Science News
Complex issue When cyanobacteria and plants transfer electrons photosynthetically, light is absorbed not by their photosynthetic proteins but by chlorophylls (“Protein Power: Solar cell produces electricity from spinach and bacterial proteins,” SN: 6/5/04, p. 355: Protein Power: Solar cell produces electricity from spinach and bacterial proteins). Some of these proteins indeed participate in electron flow, […]
By Science News - Astronomy
3-D solar eruptions
Solar physicists have developed a technique to obtain the three-dimensional structure of coronal mass ejections by using two-dimensional images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
By Ron Cowen - Chemistry
Tricky Business
The way a drug crystallizes to form a solid can make or break a billion-dollar product, which explains why pharmaceutical and crystal chemists are racing to control this poorly understood process.
- Math
Math Olympiad in Athens
A team from the United States placed second in this year's International Mathematical Olympiad.
- Humans
From the August 11, 1934, issue
Ruins of magnificent Assyrian palace uncovered, termites need fungus to thrive, and Homo sapiens thought to be 10 million years old.
By Science News - Math
Women in Mathematics
From Maria Gaetana Agnesi to Lai-Sang Young, these Web pages provide biographies of prominent women in mathematics. Prepared by students at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, the biographical essays describe the achievements of women in a variety of mathematical fields. Some essays include portraits and other illustrations. Go to: http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/Women.htm
By Science News - Materials Science
Savvy Sieve: Carbon nanotubes filter petroleum, polluted water
A filter made out of carbon nanotubes has potential for such applications as processing crude oil and decontaminating drinking water.
- Health & Medicine
Joint Effort: Bacteria in yogurt combat arthritis in rats
Yogurt containing certain types of live bacteria may help prevent or treat arthritis.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Curbing Allergy to Insect Venom: Therapy stops reactions to stings years later
Some children don't outgrow an allergy to insect stings, but immunizations against such allergies can protect them into adulthood.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
One of Hubble’s Tools Fails: Observatory loses a sharp ultraviolet eye
With the failure last week of an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have lost their only sharp ultraviolet eye on the universe.
By Ron Cowen