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  1. Paleontology

    Stegosaur tails packed a punch

    A mathematical analysis of a fossil stegosaur's bones leaves little doubt that the creature's spike-studded tail was an effective defense against predators.

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  2. Chemistry

    Dipping deeper into acid

    New experiments reveal how a molecule of acid dissolves in water.

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  3. 19146

    Concerning the Apollo rocket’s third stage returning to Earth orbit: How did the researchers determine the source to be Apollo 12, since there were six other Apollo moon missions? Did they use some fancy orbital mechanics along with statistical probability? George RichesonBrenham, Texas Yes, they did, and the orbit matched. Also, the researchers found no […]

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  4. Astronomy

    News flash: Earth still has only one moon

    An object discovered orbiting Earth in early September isn't a moon but something much more mundane—an upper stage of a rocket that was used in the Apollo 12 mission to the moon.

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  5. 19185

    In response to this article, I’d like to ask why is it that on our campus, native swamp maples growing within 30 feet of one another display totally different leaf color? While I appreciate them aesthetically, I’d also like to understand why their anthocyanin production is different. Marcia WalshNorth Andover, Mass. According to David Lee […]

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  6. Plants

    Why Turn Red?

    Why leaves turn red is a stranger question than why they turn yellow.

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  7. 19145

    Your recent article on the exact nature of bubbles in beer and other beverages keyed an old memory. In Cleveland, during Christmas, one brewery used to bring out its holiday oddity for sale. They billed it as “the pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom . . . and the top!” There really […]

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  8. 19184

    In this article, I was surprised to read that chimeras harboring a mutation are not medically useful. Consider the value of cytokine-receptor mutations in humans, with respect to HIV. It’s likely that introducing some genetic mutations can inhibit viruses or bacteria in a host. Freda Wasserstein Robbins New Jersey City University Jersey City, N.J.

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  9. Humans

    From the October 22, 1932, issue

    SUN, MOON AND STARS IN THE MOVIES Joshua, it is recorded, commanded the sun and the moon to stand still and they obeyed him. In this modern Yankee land and age of hustle, we are much less interested in making things stand still than in making them move faster. Present-day Joshuas would be more likely […]

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  10. Health & Medicine

    A Most Dreadful Pest

    Yellow fever was a deadly scourge that had a devastating effect on lives and economies throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. This engrossing Web exhibit features historical documents from the Walter Reed Yellow Fever Collection at the University of Virginia. It focuses on the work of the Reed Commission, which proved that the Aedes aegypti […]

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  11. Math

    Prime Pursuit

    A novel approach for identifying prime numbers provides a long-sought improvement in the theoretical efficiency of prime-detecting algorithms.

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  12. Humans

    From the May 3, 1930, issue

    MOON’S SHADOW AT ECLIPSE PHOTOGRAPHED Clouds over the sun broke away at Camptonville, Yuba County, California, two minutes before the total phase of the solar eclipse of the sun. Only the lightest haze remained, and the observations planned by the various expeditions located there were carried through successfully. The Lick Observatory-Crocker expedition under the direction […]

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