Uncategorized
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Astronomy
Solar magnetism: Memories are made of this
Despite all its upheavals, the sun's magnetic field has a built-in memory, allowing it to return to its original position and configuration.
By Ron Cowen -
Drugs order bacteria to commit suicide
Seeking to explain how antibiotics work, scientists find a protein that commands bacteria to kill themselves.
By John Travis -
Earth
El Niño: It’s back!
An increase in ocean temperatures in the central Pacific heralds the onset of El Niño, whose effects should show up in the United States this fall.
By Sid Perkins -
Malaria parasite reveals old age
The DNA of a malaria-causing parasite suggests it is at least 100,000 years old.
By John Travis -
19102
We’ve seen many expositions about the risk and danger of radiofrequency emissions from cell-phone antennae. As a bystander to the whole issue, I don’t understand why the manufacturers don’t design the phones so the antenna comes out by the mouthpiece. First, it would be a more natural location for grabbing and extending, and second, it […]
By Science News -
Health & Medicine
Researchers Probe Cell-Phone Effects
Scientists are trying to find out whether biological changes associated with cell-phone use represent health risks.
By Janet Raloff -
From the February 8, 1930, issue
VOLCANO WATCHERS BRAVE DRAGONS’ BREATH Regularly established and equipped volcano observatories are relatively few, for the business of watching volcanoes, unlike the related business of watching the weather, is a comparatively new science and has yet not developed a large trained personnel. The United States has only one volcano station, in spite of the fact […]
By Science News -
Explore Antarctica with Nomad
Follow the daily activities of Nomad, a roving robot searching for meteorites in Antarctica, at the Big Signal interactive Web site, developed by Peter Coppin of the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry in Carnegie Mellon’s College of Fine Arts. Check out daily progress reports, obtain background information, learn about telerobotics, and get a hint of what […]
By Science News -
Math
Jazzing Up Euclid’s Algorithm
Earlier this year, the journal Computing in Science & Engineering (CISE) published a list of the top 10 algorithms of the century (see http://computer.org/cise/articles/Top_Algorithms.htm). “Computational algorithms are probably as old as civilization,” Francis Sullivan of the Institute for Defense Analyses’ Center for Computing Sciences in Bowie, Md. noted in an editorial in the January/February issue […]
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Biological clock study challenged
A report disputes the controversial notion that bright light applied to skin can reset a person's biological clock.
By John Travis -
Health & Medicine
Worm genes take on bacterial foes
Creatures as simple as worms have an effective immune defense.
By John Travis -
Archaeology
Ancient birth brick emerges in Egypt
Investigations at a 3,700-year-old Egyptian town have yielded a painted brick that was used in childbirth rituals.
By Bruce Bower