Uncategorized
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Bug Watching
Crazy about insects? The Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute in Arizona has a “Backyard Bugwatching” page with links to photos and articles focusing on a variety of insects and their diverse habitats. Learn what it takes to track Mexican leaf-cutter ants and catch bullet ants. Journey to Costa Rica’s rainforests for close-ups of novel arthropods. Watch […]
- Earth
Old pesticide still makes it to Arctic
Molecules of the pesticides known as chlordanes, which belong to a class of long-lasting organochlorine pollutants, circulate in Arctic air years after they were applied in temperate latitudes.
- Health & Medicine
DREAMing away pain
Mutant mice lacking a certain regulatory protein overproduce a natural opioid and are less sensitive to pain than are other mice.
- Archaeology
Skulls attest to Iron Age scalping
Archaeologists identified four skulls, previously found in southern Siberia, that bore incisions attesting to the practice of scalping in that region around 2,500 years ago.
- Materials Science
Carbon pods are more than a pack of peas
Researchers have found that they can manipulate the electronic properties of nanoscopic carbon structures.
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Meeting Danielle the Tarantula
Insect zoos have no lions, tigers, or bears but can give plenty of thrills, courtesy of tarantulas, giant beetles, and exotic grasshoppers.
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18984
You missed the papers that describe our experiments that produce ball lightning in our lab. We use a lightning-arc-producing apparatus. Clint SewardElectron Power SystemsActon, Mass. The ball-lightning article makes no mention of Nikola Tesla’s creation of ball lightning while generating megavolt discharges from gigantic Tesla coil arrays. Ted V. PowellBaldwin, N.Y.
- Physics
Anatomy of a Lightning Ball
Metallic fuzz, acid droplets, or other fairy dust may conjure up ball lightning (with video clips).
- Math
Euler’s Homework
Even the best and most prolific of mathematicians have had to do homework assignments. Famed Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) was no exception. Euler was only 14 years old when he was sent to the University of Basel in 1720 to study for the ministry. Not long after his arrival, he got himself introduced to […]
- Health & Medicine
An El Niño link with a tropical disease?
An analysis of recent outbreaks of an often fatal disease in Peru may strengthen a link between the malady and the warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean known as El Niño.
- Humans
Storm warnings take new tone of voice
The National Weather Service is now testing new computer-generated voices that will be used in the agency's broadcasts of severe storm warnings on NOAA Weather Radio.
