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  1. Astronomy

    Evidence grows for nearby planetary system

    Astronomers have found the nearest known planet that lies outside the solar system, a mere 10.5 light-years from Earth.

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  2. Chemistry

    Crystal Reveals Unexpected Beginnings

    For the first time, researchers have directly observed a protein begin to crystallize, and they've found it has a peculiar shape.

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  3. Humans

    From the April 8, 1933, issue

    MT. WASHINGTON COLDER THAN THE ANTARCTIC Rigor of winter at the summit of Mt. Washington is graphically pictured on the cover of this week’s Science News Letter. As early as October 15 of last year, when this picture was taken by Harold Orne of Melrose Highlands, Mass., ice and snow has wrought curious shapes upon […]

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  4. Micro Burgers ‘n Fries

    For an intimate peek at an all-American meal, this Web page from Florida State University’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory offers microscopic views of the basic ingredients that go into a serving of burgers and fries. See colorful slices of a wheat kernel, cooked meat, onion tissue, cheese proteins, starch granules, and lettuce cells. Go […]

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  5. Astronomy

    Cosmic Blowout: Black holes spew as much as they consume

    Supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies can blow out as much material as they swallow, creating high-speed winds that may seed the universe with oxygen, carbon, iron, and other elements essential for life.

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  6. Earth

    Wrong Number: Plastic ingredient spurs chromosomal defects

    The primary chemical in some plastics causes female mice to produce eggs with abnormal numbers of chromosomes.

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  7. Materials Science

    A New Cool: Prototype chills fast and electrifies, too

    Researchers have incorporated an efficient thermoelectric material into a prototype device that can cool or produce electricity.

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  8. Math

    Zeroing In on Catalan’s Conjecture

    Fermat’s last theorem is just one of many examples of innocent-looking problems that can long stymie even the most astute mathematicians. It took about 350 years to prove Fermat’s scribbled conjecture, for instance. Now, Preda Mihailescu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has proved a theorem that is likely to lead to […]

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  9. Math

    Zeroing In on Catalan’s Conjecture

    Fermat’s last theorem is just one of many examples of innocent-looking problems that can long stymie even the most astute mathematicians. It took about 350 years to prove Fermat’s scribbled conjecture, for instance. Now, Preda Mihailescu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has proved a theorem that is likely to lead to […]

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  10. Math

    Zeroing In on Catalan’s Conjecture

    Fermat’s last theorem is just one of many examples of innocent-looking problems that can long stymie even the most astute mathematicians. It took about 350 years to prove Fermat’s scribbled conjecture, for instance. Now, Preda Mihailescu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has proved a theorem that is likely to lead to […]

    By
  11. Math

    Zeroing In on Catalan’s Conjecture

    Fermat’s last theorem is just one of many examples of innocent-looking problems that can long stymie even the most astute mathematicians. It took about 350 years to prove Fermat’s scribbled conjecture, for instance. Now, Preda Mihailescu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has proved a theorem that is likely to lead to […]

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  12. Math

    Square of the Hypotenuse

    There’s a delightful mathematical moment in the movie Merry Andrew, when Danny Kaye, playing schoolmaster Andrew Larabee, breaks into song to teach the Pythagorean theorem. I was reminded of this scene by a sentence in an article about the Pythagorean theorem in the October issue of Mathematics Magazine. The Pythagorean theorem “is probably the only […]

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