Uncategorized
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For some heart patients, days are numbered
Cardiac deaths among Chinese and Japanese residents of the United States peak on the fourth day of each month, possibly due to psychological stress from their widespread belief that the number 4 is linked to death.
- Ecosystems
Mistletoe, of all things, helps juniper trees
A mistletoe that grows on junipers may do the trees a favor by attracting birds that spread the junipers' seeds.
- Earth
It’s bottoms up for iron at sea’s surface
Sediments drilled from the seafloor off Antarctica suggest that the dissolved iron in surface waters that fuels much of the region's biological productivity comes from upwelling deep water currents, not from dust blowing off the continents.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine prevents urinary-tract infections
An experimental vaccine designed to repel 10 common bacteria that cause bladder infections has cleared a key hurdle by proving safe and effective in a group of women.
- Astronomy
Galaxy survey sheds light on dark matter
Astronomers are examining some of the brightest objects in the universe to learn about the darkest stuff.
- Tech
Magnetic refrigerator gets down and homey
Because it uses a permanent magnet, a new, prototype magnetic cooler takes up so little space that it could give rise to ordinary household refrigerators and air conditioners that run on magnetism instead of volatile liquids.
- Health & Medicine
Virus Shapes Risk of Multiple Sclerosis
A huge, decade-long study bolsters the link between Epstein-Barr virus and the autoimmune disorder multiple sclerosis by showing that the common infection is more active in people who later develop symptoms of the disease.
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Awareness of the geographical distribution of multiple sclerosis makes the Epstein-Barr virus an unlikely agent. Multiple sclerosis is most common in the white population of northern Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The risk of developing the disease in white populations increases with latitude. In Uganda, multiple sclerosis is rarely seen, while the Epstein-Barr […]
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From the January 2, 1932 issue
CONCRETE RIBBONS TO CARRY TRAFFIC OF GREAT HIGHWAY Thin ribbons of concrete arching through the air, that will carry on a 42-foot wide pavement, traffic of one of the countrys chief east-west thoroughfares, the Lincoln highway, are skillfully depicted in this photograph of the George Westinghouse Memorial bridge nearing completion at East Pittsburgh. The arches […]
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Where Lightning Strikes
New maps of data from space-based optical sensors reveal the uneven distribution of lightning strikes across the globe. The NASA maps show that lightning avoids the ocean, but likes Florida. It’s attracted to the Himalayas and central Africa. It almost never strikes the north or south poles. Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast05dec_1.htm
- Humans
Weekly Science Snoop
WARNING: This fake tabloid contains rumor, humor, and other words that don't rhyme with truth.
- Tech
Engineered crystal obeys inner bananas
Flexing new skills at custom-designing crystals, researchers built a specific optical trait into a new organic crystal by tinkering with the shape of one of the crystal's constituent molecules.
