Uncategorized
- Physics
New equation fits nitrogen to a T
An elaborate, new equation that yields more accurate values for nitrogen's properties might have a multimillion-dollar impact in the cryogenic fluids industry.
- Physics
Gecko toes tap intermolecular bonds
For scurrying upside down on smooth ceilings and other gravity-defying feats, lizards known as geckos may exploit intermolecular forces between the surface and billions of tiny stalks under their toes.
- Health & Medicine
Stress and sleepless nights
Insomnia is associated with increases in stress hormones, boosts that persist all day and night.
- Health & Medicine
Gene causes body-fat disorder
A gene linked to a form of muscular dystrophy also causes a disease that deposits fat unevenly after puberty.
- Health & Medicine
Hormone treats autoimmune disease
A medication combining the drug prasterone and hormone dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA, stabilizes or improves symptoms of lupus.
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Predators shape river world top-down
Hunting and no-hunting zones allow a rare test of the much-debated proposal that big carnivores shape their ecosystems from the top down.
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Why did the turtle cross the road?
A survey of painted turtles that perished while trying to cross a highway suggests that the freshwater species need more dry land than expected.
- Humans
From the February 25, 1933, issue
ADAM AND EVE IN THE OLDEST CITY In the oldest city that archaeologists have ever explored they have dug up “Adam and Eve” and the serpent. There they are, the figures of a man and a woman, which have been stamped on clay with a seal. They are a dejected human pair, bent, and stumbling […]
- Tech
A Theremin’s Electronic Wail
A pioneering electronic instrument played without touch, the theremin can produce a wide range of eerie sounds. Introduced by Lev Sergeyvich Termen in 1921, the instrument responds to hand motions, which control the pitch and loudness. Information about the theremin is available at various Web sites, and if you’re dying to play it yourself, you […]
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- Math
The Tangled Task of Distinguishing Knots
Consider the plight of a gardener struggling with a recalcitrant tangle of garden hose. Sometimes, no amount of pulling or twisting unsnarls the coils. At other times, the tangles readily come apart, and the hose emerges unknotted. Trefoil knot. Different views of the figure-eight knot. Robert Scharein Braid (left) and its closed form (right). Robert […]
