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18902
“Force from empty space drives a machine” cites the attraction between a gold plate and a ball as proof of vacuum energy and the Casimir force, but isn’t it possible that science has jumped the gun? There may be other causes of this behavior, such as the photoelectric effect producing static electricity, chemical-bonding forces, magnetism, […]
- Physics
Force from empty space drives a machine
A novel micromachine uses quantum fluctuations of empty space to help drive its motion.
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Infection divides two wasp species
Two tiny wasp species provide the best evidence yet that infection by Wolbachia bacteria can play a role in forming species.
- Astronomy
Old stars reveal universe’s minimum age
Using a technique more precise than ever before, an international team of researchers has estimated the age of the universe to be at least 12.5 billion years old.
- Anthropology
Neandertals and humans each get a grip
A fossil analysis indicates that, by about 100,000 years ago, modern humans in the Middle East had hands suited to holding stone tools by attached handles, whereas Neandertals did not.
- Health & Medicine
One-Two Drug Punch Trips Up Leukemia
A leukemia cell seals its own fate when researchers trap cancer-causing proteins in its nucleus.
- Math
White Narcissus
The elegant, swooping forms carved out of wood by sculptor Robert Longhurst often resemble gracefully curved soap films that span twisted loops of wire dipped into soapy water. Alhough these abstract sculptures bear an uncanny resemblance to mathematical forms known as minimal surfaces, they emerge from Longhurst’s imagination rather than from mathematics. An original design […]
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From the February 7, 1931, issue
LITTLE WATERWHEEL DOES BIG POWER JOB Fortunate are those countries that have small rivers falling rapidly, rather than huge, slow-moving streams. Electricity can be generated for these nations easily and cheaply. To make electricity for Korea from the 2,000-foot fall of a mountain stream will be the life work of the Voith impulse water wheel […]
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Liquid Crystal
Brilliantly colored images of liquid crystals highlight the Web site of Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute. The site also features research overviews, news and conference links, and other resources devoted to the study and application of liquid crystals. Go to: http://www.lci.kent.edu/
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From the January 31, 1931, issue
ROBBER FLY MASQUERADES IN BUMBLEBEE’S CLOTHING The villainous-looking hexapod that glares at you from the cover of this week’s SCIENCE NEWS LETTER is as bad a citizen as he looks. He is a robber fly, who should by rights be called an assassin fly, for his practice is to pounce upon other insects in the […]
- Humans
Amateur Scientist
The Web site of the Society for Amateur Scientists offers discussion forums, projects, and resources for people interested in taking part “in scientific adventures of all kinds.” Go to: http://earth.thesphere.com/sas/ or http://www.sas.org/
- Math
Fibonacci’s Chinese Calendar
In a book completed in the year 1202, mathematician Leonardo of Pisa (also known as Fibonacci) posed the following problem: How many pairs of rabbits will be produced in a year, beginning with a single pair, if every month each pair bears a new pair that becomes productive from the second month on? The total […]
