Uncategorized
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19276
Your article makes a common error. Whereas chicken pox is caused by one virus, a “cold” is a set of symptoms that can be caused by more than 200 distinct viruses. A better example for short-term immunity might have been pertussis or tetanus. Jennifer L. Bankers-FulbrightMayo ClinicRochester, Minn.
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Faulty Memory: Long-term immunity isn’t always beneficial
Quickly losing immune-system defenses against some viruses may protect humans from far nastier bugs, a mathematical model suggests.
- Planetary Science
Galileo’s Demise: A planetary plunge, by Jove
Out of fuel and according to plan, the Galileo spacecraft ended an 8-year tour of Jupiter and its moons on Sept. 21, when it dove into the planet’s dense atmosphere.
- Ecosystems
Killer Consequences: Has whaling driven orcas to a diet of sea lions?
Killer whales may have been responsible for steep declines in seal, sea lion, and otter populations after whaling wiped out the great whales that killer whales had been eating.
- Tech
The Daily Flicks: Morphing ink may bring video to newspapers
New types of electronic-paper pixels may eventually make it possible to view full-color video clips in your morning newspaper.
- Chemistry
Mollusks point way toward better drugs
Growing drug crystals on different polymer surfaces may lead to improved medicines.
- Materials Science
Charging cartilage
A hybrid material made of biodegradable polymers and carbon nanotubes yields an optimal scaffold for growing cartilage.
- Materials Science
Soft spheres yield photonic structures
A novel technique for patterning light-guiding channels through photonic crystals made of hydrogel nanoparticles may lead to faster, all-optical telecommunications technologies.
- Earth
Mapping carbon dioxide from space
An orbiting observatory in space will sense atmospheric carbon dioxide levels around the globe, creating a detailed map of the greenhouse gas' sources and sinks.
- Animals
Leashing the Rattlesnake
Even in the 21st century, there's still room for old-fashioned, do-it-yourself ingenuity in experimental design for studying animal behavior.
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19344
My attention was immediately drawn to this article. You see, in the late 1970s, as a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, I developed a snake-tethering technique with the assistance of one of the campus veterinarians, Scott E. McDonald. The article falsely attributes rattlesnake leashing to others. David F. HennessySacramento, Calif. Yes, David […]
- Planetary Science
After the Tragedy
NASA's plan to return the space shuttles safely to flight after the Columbia accident is coming under intense scrutiny.
