Uncategorized
- Planetary Science
Spacecraft reveal Mars’ molten heart
Tracking the precise motion of a spacecraft orbiting Mars, planetary scientists have deduced that the core of the Red Planet is at least partially liquid.
- Health & Medicine
Prenatal marijuana exposure may pose health risks
Rats that were exposed to a marijuana-related chemical while in the womb show more memory lapses and hyperactivity than unexposed rats do.
- Earth
Ssshhh! South Pole has a new seismic station
Seismometers recently installed near the South Pole reveal that the area is the quietest spot on the planet for eavesdropping on earthquakes.
- Health & Medicine
The Vaccinia Dilemma
To inform the current debate on who should be vaccinated for smallpox given the possibility of—or in the event of—a bioterrorism attack, researchers are using mathematical models and data from vaccination campaigns and past smallpox outbreaks.
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Why has so much focus been placed on protecting us against the threat of a smallpox outbreak when a terrorist could choose to release a different infectious disease? Wouldn’t it be wiser to discuss ways to respond to and contain any unknown disease? More public awareness of this possibility would prevent the false sense of […]
- Tech
Building a Better Shuttle
Researchers are working on both more heat-tolerant materials and totally new designs for vehicles that might ultimately replace the space shuttle.
- Health & Medicine
Morbid Mystery Tour: Epidemic from China is encircling globe
An outbreak of deadly pneumonia that apparently began in southern China spread in March to at least two other continents, including North America.
- Paleontology
Fine Toothcomb: New fossils add to primate-origins debate
The discovery of 40-million-year-old teeth and jaw fragments belonging to ancient forms of lorises and bushbabies doubles the age of the fossil record for a major primate group.
- Materials Science
A Hard Little Lesson: Squeezed nanospheres grow superstrong
A substance not known for its hardness—silicon—becomes one of the hardest of materials when formed into ultrasmall spheres.
- Earth
Dioxin Dumps: Burning exposed trash pollutes soil
The practice of burning refuse in the open in many underdeveloped countries creates prodigious quantities of harmful polychlorinated compounds.
- Earth
Clean Casualties: Everyday chemicals may shift ecosystems
Trace amounts of the chemical concoctions used to battle bacteria in kitchens and bathrooms may kill off algae, an effect that researchers say may have far-reaching consequences.
- Animals
Secret Signal: Fish allurement that predators don’t see
In a rare demonstration of secret messaging in animals, a swordtail fish uses ultraviolet courtship signals that are invisible to a predator.
