Uncategorized
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19055
Shame on Nature for saying, “the evidence available is not sufficient to justify the publication of the original paper.” The fact that transgenes get into maize is cause for caution. The agribusiness conglomerates are spending millions to stifle any intelligent debate about the risks and benefits of genetically engineered crops and modern chemicals. Without information […]
- Earth
Stemming the Tide
New approaches to stopping the introduction by ships of invasive species to North American waters are beginning to show promise but have a long way to go.
- Chemistry
The True Sweet Science
New techniques and tools are helping scientists elucidate the roles that complex sugars play in the human body and in drug manufacturing.
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From the April 9, 1932 issue
SPIDERS’ EGGS FORM PATTERN LIKE MOSAIC OF PEBBLES Like a rough mosaic of pebbles is the array of spider’s eggs photographed by Cornelia Clarke and reproduced on the cover of this week’s Science News Letter. Although smaller than small pinheads, the enlarging lens brought the eggs up to such apparent size that they were guessed […]
- Astronomy
Galaxy Hunter
At the interactive “Galaxy Hunter” Web site, students use data from the Hubble Space Telescope to investigate a bewildering assortment of deep-space galaxies in various stages of evolution–and learn statistical concepts such as sample variability and size along the way. Go to: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/ghunter/
- Materials Science
A Field of Diminutive Daisies
Researchers have created tiny daisies as a demonstration of a new technique that creates three-dimensional structures from carbon nanotubes.
- Health & Medicine
Blood Vessel Poisoning: Arsenic narrows artery that feeds brain
New research suggests that drinking arsenic-laden water can produce dangerous narrowing in the carotid artery, which channels blood through the neck to the brain.
- Health & Medicine
Scrambled Drugs: Transgenic chickens could lay golden eggs
Scientists have created transgenic chickens able to produce foreign proteins—and, potentially, pharmaceuticals—in their eggs.
- Animals
Lamprey Allure: Females rush to males’ bile acid
An unusual sex attractant has turned up in an analysis of sea lampreys, and it may inspire new ways to defend the Great Lakes against invasive species.
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Night Patrol for Tired Cops: Police lose sleep over workday hassles
A large proportion of big-city police officers suffers from insomnia and other serious sleep problems that stem from chronic work stress.
- Materials Science
Osmium is Forever: Rare metal’s strength humbles mighty diamond’s
A new route to materials harder than diamond may have opened with the surprising finding that the rare metal osmium resists compression better than diamond does.
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19070
According to this article, osmium is the least compressible of materials. When I looked at an encyclopedia article about osmium, I was surprised to discover that its name comes from a Greek root that means “odor.” I’d always thought it was named after the generic Anglo-Saxon word for a god, which is “os.” Gerald BakerCedar […]
