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  1. 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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. 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.

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  4. 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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  5. 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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  6. Physics

    Anatomy of a Lightning Ball

    Metallic fuzz, acid droplets, or other fairy dust may conjure up ball lightning (with video clips).

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  7. 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.

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  8. 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 […]

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  9. 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.

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  10. 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.

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  11. Earth

    New way of gauging reservoir evaporation

    Scientists have developed a new way to estimate the evaporation of water from large reservoirs that, if adopted, would replace a labor-intensive procedure based on decades-old technology.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Compound mimics calorie restriction

    A new compound, part of a family of proteins that regulate fat transport, lowers the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes in monkeys.

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