Uncategorized
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Looking for the brain’s g force
Controversial evidence suggests that a frontal-brain network underlies psychological measures of general intelligence.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
X-ray flare from a dim source
An X-ray flare coming from a old, failed star has surprised astronomers.
By Ron Cowen - Computing
Pictures Only a Computer Could Love
New, unconventional lenses shape scenes into pictures for computers, not people, so that computer-equipped microscopes, cameras, and other optical devices can see more with less.
By Peter Weiss - Astronomy
A comet’s chilly origin
Astronomers have detected argon in comet Hale-Bopp, the first time an inert gas has been found in one of these icy bodies and an indication that the comet formed in the frigid outer solar system between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune.
By Ron Cowen - Humans
When Biologists Get Bombed
Or shot at by soldiers. This isn't textbook conservation science.
By Susan Milius - Math
Crediting Basketball’s Three-Pointers
The adoption of the three-point field goal in basketball changed the game. Initially, its impact was limited, but in recent years, shooting three-point baskets has had a significant effect on game strategy and outcome. Many sports fans can’t resist the lure of quantifying performance–ranking teams, rating players, and keeping various statistics. Now, statistician Thomas P. […]
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The understanding that traditional wisdom calls for detoxifying these legumes coupled with the fact that they are eaten nonetheless is indeed sad. The work of the agricultural scientists in making this staple safe to eat is vital. There is evident need for help from social science to get safe food practices accepted in the population. […]
By Science News - Agriculture
Detoxifying Desert’s Manna
Farmers need no longer fear the sweet pea's dryland cousin.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Molecule may protect against kidney damage
People with a gene for the protein called apoE-IV are less likely to have the dangerous complication of kidney failure after a heart-bypass operation than are people who make other versions of the protein.
By Nathan Seppa - Materials Science
A new carbon nanotool springs to life
Physicists have pulled out the inside cylinders of multiwall carbon nanotubes, as if expanding a telescope, indicating how the devices may serve as tiny bearings and springs in future nanomachines.
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This article contains a common misconception about the greenhouse effect. It states, “The newly detected gas is chemically similar to sulfur hexafluoride–another strong absorber of solar radiation . . .” (emphasis mine). While this statement may be true, it is irrelevant to the greenhouse efficiency of a gas. The mechanism of the greenhouse effect involves […]
By Science News - Earth
Newfound gas is greenhouse powerhouse
Scientists have detected in the atmosphere for the first time a gas that traps heat more effectively than any other previously found there.
By Sid Perkins