Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Book Review: Breeding Bio Insecurity: How U.S. Biodefense Is Exporting Fear, Globalizing Risk, and Making Us All Less Secure by Lynn C. Klotz and Edward J. Sylvester

    Review by Rachel Zelkowitz.

  2. Streetlights and Shadows: Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making by Gary Klein

    Good decision makers share traits such as being accepting of ambiguity and complexity, one scientist argues. MIT Press, 2009, 337 p., $27.95. STREETLIGHTS AND SHADOWS: SEARCHING FOR THE KEYS TO ADAPTIVE DECISION MAKING BY GARY KLEIN

  3. On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear by Richard Ellis

    The natural history of polar bears entwines with human history in this science writer’s ode to the world’s largest land carnivore. ON THIN ICE: THE CHANGING WORLD OF THE POLAR BEAR BY RICHARD ELLIS Alfred A. Knopf, 2009, 400 p., $28.95.

  4. So You Want to Be a Scientist? by Philip A. Schwartzkroin

    A neuroscientist describes the pros, cons and politics of a career in research for aspiring scientists. SO YOU WANT TO BE A SCIENTIST? BY PHILIP A. SCHWARTZKROIN Oxford University Press, 2009, 192 p., $19.95.

  5. Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life by Scott D. Sampson

    The past three decades have seen a plethora of major discoveries, described here, about dinosaurs and prehistoric Earth. DINOSAUR ODYSSEY: FOSSIL THREADS IN THE WEB OF LIFE BY SCOTT D. SAMPSON University of California Press, 2009, 332 p., $29.95.

  6. Gifts from the Ancestors: Ancient Ivories of Bering Strait by William W. Fitzhugh, Julie Hollowell and Aron L. Crowell, eds.

    The histories of Arctic cultures are explored through scholarly essays, illustrations and photos of the region’s intricately carved relics. GIFTS FROM THE ANCESTORS: ANCIENT IVORIES OF BERING STRAIT BY WILLIAM W. FITZHUGH, JULIE HOLLOWELL AND ARON L. CROWELL, EDS. Yale University Press, 2009, 328 p., $55.

  7. Before the Big Bang: The Prehistory of Our Universe by Brian Clegg

    A scientist-writer explains theories of the universe’s origin for the nonscientist. BEFORE THE BIG BANG: THE PREHISTORY OF OUR UNIVERSE BY BRIAN CLEGG St. Martin’s Press, 2009, 306 p., $25.99.

  8. The Humans Who Went Extinct: Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived by Clive Finlayson

    An evolutionary ecologist argues that humans weren’t superior to other hominid species, only luckier. THE HUMANS WHO WENT EXTINCT: WHY NEANDERTHALS DIED OUT AND WE SURVIVED BY CLIVE FINLAYSON Oxford University Press, 2009, 273 p., $29.95.

  9. Science Future for February 13, 2010

    February 22–26 The American Geophysical Union’s Ocean Sciences meeting is held in Portland, Ore. See www.agu.org/meetings/os10 March 5–6 Researchers and clinicians meet in San Diego to discuss genomic medicine’s future. See www.scripps.org/events March 18 Debut of an interactive exhibit on extreme weather at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. See www.msichicago.org

  10. Science Past from the issue of February 13, 1960

    DISCOVERY ADDS CLUES TO COMPOSITION OF LIGNIN — The sugar glucose is part of the answer to a biochemical riddle — the exact composition of lignin. Lignin, which together with cellulose comprises wood, is a highly complex carbohydrate whose complete structure is unknown. It is considered a waste product…. Experiments … have shown that in […]

  11. Letters

    Snack addicts The experiment outlined in “Junk food turns rats into addicts” (SN: 11/21/09, p. 8) seems to have overlooked an ingredient list. The junk foods fed to the rats were junky, to be sure, but which foods were the most addictive? Many junk foods are filled with alarming amounts of things like mono­sodium glutamate. […]

  12. Astronomy

    Astronomy Meeting Highlights

    Follow the links below for Science News' complete coverage of the American Astronomical Society meeting held January 3–7, 2010 in Washington, D.C.