Uncategorized
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Paddle Power: Surprising shape of key cellular pore unveiled
A molecular pore that controls the flow of ions into cells has an unexpected shape and mechanism.
- Math
A Geometric Superformula
The notion of a simple equation that you can use to generate a wide variety of geometric shapes is an immensely appealing one. Johan Gielis of Antwerp, Belgium, proposes one such formula in the March American Journal of Botany. “Many geometrical forms, both in nature and culture, can be interpreted as modified circles,” Gielis states. […]
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19251
This article says that the S waves travel at about one-half the speed of the P waves. Then, in “Seismic waves resolve continental debate” on page 285 of the same issue (Available to subscribers at Seismic waves resolve continental debate), it would appear that the P waves travel at one-half the speed of the S […]
- Earth
Sensing a vibe
A sprawling network of seismometers that covers the Los Angeles area could be adapted to provide warning of damaging ground motions from earthquakes in the seconds before those seismic vibes arrive.
- Physics
Crystal Bash: Shocking changes to light’s properties
Prized, light-manipulating microstructures known as photonic crystals may transform light in new and technologically tantalizing ways when jolted by shock waves.
- Anthropology
Ancestral Bushwhack: Hominid tree gets trimmed twice
In separate presentations at scientific meetings, two anthropologists challenged the influential view that the human evolutionary family has contained as many as 20 different fossil species.
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19250
Regarding this article, consider how many species current Homo sapiens would be divided into using the criteria of paleoanthropologists, considering Pygmies and basketball players. Rick Fisher Richland, Wash.
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Do people flirt like guppies?
Researchers who have studied how female guppies copy other females' choice of mate are tackling the same question in Homo sapiens.
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Beaks change songs in Darwin’s finches
A new look—and listen—at Darwin's finches finds that the famous relationship between beak size and food supply affects their courtship songs as well.
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Puppy tests flunk long-term checkups
A follow-up study of dog-personality tests suggests that they don't have the predictive power many puppy purchasers expect.
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Looking for a mate? Oh, whatever
Two cricket species don't seem to care whether they get mixed up at mating time, an oddity that may have something to do with the female's need to dine on leftover sperm.
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Social tuco-tucos develop more variety
In mustachioed rodents called tuco-tucos, group life seems to have fostered more diverse immune systems than has solitary living.
