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From the April 4, 1931 issue
PASCHAL FLOWERS BLOOM ON PRAIRIES OF THE WEST Easter-Tide is remembered in America by two names, one of a place, the other of a flower. When the youth-seeking Ponce de Leon sighted the coast of the New World it was on Easter morning, and accordingly he named the place he had found Pascua Florida, or […]
By Science News - Math
Prized Geometric Logic
Computer programs can handle all sorts of data, from sums of money in bank accounts to sensor readings from scientific instruments. In many cases, the data are a set of discrete elements, such as temperatures. Moreover, some elements of a set may be larger in value than others, or they may exhibit some other relationship […]
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Touching legs turns shy locusts gregarious
Researchers have discovered that sensing repeated touch on the hind leg triggers a shy, green locust to flip into swarming mode.
By Susan Milius - Physics
Moon may radio cosmic rays’ biggest hits
Efforts to use the moon to detect the highest-energy cosmic rays get a boost from an experiment showing that gamma rays zipping through a giant sandbox cause the kind of microwave bursts moon-watchers are hoping to see.
By Peter Weiss - Earth
Microbes put ancient carbon on the menu
Scientists have found microorganisms within Kentucky shale that are eating the ancient carbon locked within the rock, a previously unrecognized dietary habit that could have a prevalent role in the weathering and erosion of similar sedimentary rock at many other locations.
By Sid Perkins -
Bacterial cells reveal skeletal structures
The finding of a cytoskeleton in Bacillus subtilis bacteria eliminates a fundamental difference between bacteria and higher (eukaryotic) cells.
- Earth
Ancient tree rings reveal past climate
Using tree-ring analysis, an international team of researchers has reconstructed the earliest record of annual climate variation.
By Linda Wang - Health & Medicine
Urine tests can foretell bladder cancers
U.S. and Chinese researchers find that two unconventional urine tests can often predict when a person is developing bladder cancer even before tumors appear.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
Starry Data Support Revved-Up Cosmos
Astronomers have confirmed one of the weirdest properties of the universe: Some mysterious force is pushing galaxies apart at a faster and faster rate.
By Ron Cowen -
18922
“Dyslexia gets a break in Italy” brought to mind a remark I learned in grade school decades ago. It is: In English, the word fish can be spelled ghoti. That’s gh as in tough, o as in women, and ti as in nation: “ghoti” = “fish.” English can be difficult. Norman C. Peterson Sata Monica, […]
By Science News -
Dyslexia gets a break in Italy
Although dyslexia involves a common disruption of reading-related brain activity, the reading performance of people with dyslexia appears to improve if they use a language that has consistent spelling rules.
By Bruce Bower -
18921
Depression is a common symptom of magnesium deficiency. Heart attacks, including fatal heart attacks, are also a common symptom of magnesium deficiency. It is thus no surprise that depressed people have a higher-than-normal rate of fatal heart attacks. Bernard Rimland Autism Research Institute San Diego, Calif.
By Science News