Uncategorized
- Anthropology
Drowned land holds clue to first Americans
A map of a now-flooded region charts the path that Asians may have taken to first reach the Americas.
- Humans
Treaty Nears on Gene-Altered Exports
In an effort to help preserve biodiversity, negotiators from 130 nations crafted rules of conduct for international trade in living, genetically engineered organisms.
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From the February 1, 1930, issue
WHOSE MEMORY LIVES IN THIS EGYPTIAN TOMB? The great tomb of an unknown Egyptian who lived about 2800 B.C. has been discovered and entered by the expedition from the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, working at Meydum, fifty miles south of Cairo. A report just received from the director, Alan Rowe, states that the […]
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Beams of Our Lives
What are energy beams? How do they carry information, cure disease, illuminate distant points, or create images on our television screens? Answers to these and other questions you probably never thought to ask can be found on a Web site hosted by the Center for Beam Physics at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Funky stick […]
- Math
A Minimal Winter’s Tale
The organizers of the Breckenridge snow sculpture championships in Colorado must be getting used to having a mathematical element in their annual competition. A simple version of Enneper’s surface just before (above) and just after (below) it self-intersects. The award-winning snow sculpture of Enneper’s surface. For the second year in a row, a team assembled […]
- Math
Logic in the Blocks
Sliding-block puzzles can be surprisingly difficult to solve and can even serve as theoretical models of computation.
- Animals
Slithering on Air: Flying snakes glide through the treetops
The paradise tree snake flies by flattening its body and slithering through the air.
- Health & Medicine
New Antidote to Botulism: Drug neutralizes toxin in mouse tests
An experimental drug disables deadly botulism toxin much better than current treatment does.
- Earth
Long, Dry Spells: Lengthy droughts tied to long-lived La Niñas
A new study of persistent droughts that occurred in the United States during the past 3 centuries suggests that those dry spells may be associated with prolonged periods when sea-surface temperatures in the central Pacific were cooler than average.
- Animals
Strong Medicine: Over-the-counter remedy snags snakes
Acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol—vanquishes brown tree snakes, the bane of Guam.
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19100
This article mentions that “toxicology studies suggest that crabs, birds, rodents, and cats face little risk from the baits.” Acetaminophen in fact is lethal to cats. Cats may be safe, however, because of their preference for live food. John WeissDallas, Texas
- Physics
Sunlight Sponge? Energy trackers gauge water vapor’s wild dance
Atmospheric water vapor takes in more solar radiation than has been indicated by measurements and models, but laser probes of highly agitated water molecules suggest that the vapor doesn't absorb enough radiation to explain the discrepancy fully.
