Uncategorized
- Math
Knot Possible
Knot theorists are getting closer to their goal of developing practical procedures for distinguishing knotted curves from unknotted ones.
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From the December 5, 1931, issue
PROTECTION EXTENDED NEARLY EXTINCT TEDDY BEARS Koalas, known colloquially in Australia as native bears, real, live teddy bears in soft, plushlike fur, have lately become the objects of special solicitude, both official and private, in the far island-continent that is their home. For several generations nobody paid any more attention to them than Americans pay […]
By Science News - Earth
Fishy data hid decline in global catch
Many coastal fisheries are in trouble, yet according to figures reported to the United Nations, the annual global yield has appeared to be stable or even growing.
By Ben Harder - Ecosystems
Move over, Leo. Give me more elbow room
The average size of the largest land animals on each of 25 oceanic islands and five continents strongly depends on the land area there.
By Sid Perkins - Earth
Transgenes migrate into old races of maize
Genes from bioengineered corn have somehow strayed into the traditional varieties of southern Mexico.
By Susan Milius - Earth
Dried-up California lake gets muddy facial
A new dust-abatement program is transforming the nation's biggest source of respirable dust into a sea of nonpolluting mud.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Protein fragment halts type I diabetes
A new protein-based drug injected into people just starting to show signs of diabetes halts the disease.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Human-cloning claim creates controversy
A biotech company has begun cloning human embryos.
By John Travis - Astronomy
Craft Probes Alien Planet’s Atmosphere
Astronomers have for the first time detected the atmosphere of a planet that lies well beyond the solar system.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Kawasaki patients show coronary calcium
The heart attack risk associated with Kawasaki disease, a childhood inflammatory disease that can cause aneurysms, may stem from calcium build-up in coronary arteries.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Light blow to chest can be fatal
A light blow to the heart can cause cardiac arrest, even when the blow isn't hard enough to cause injury.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Statins, yes; antioxidants, no
Taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins improves the health outlook for patients at risk of heart attack even when these patients aren't considered obvious candidates to receive the treatment.
By Nathan Seppa