Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Letters

    Outsized beaver Accompanying your recent article about giant extinct beavers (“Ancient beavers did not eat trees,” SN: 11/21/09, p. 10), there is an illustration that seems to show that the extinct beaver was about twice the length of a present-day beaver. I measured each from nose to the base of the tail rather than to […]

  2. Book Review: The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray

    Review by Janet Raloff.

  3. Book Review: The Three Cultures: Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and the Humanities in the 21st Century by Jerome Kagan

    Review by Rachel Zelkowitz.

  4. The Math Book by Clifford A. Pickover

    An illustrated timeline showcases great mathematicians and  mathematical achievements throughout history. Sterling, 2009, 527 p., $29.95. THE MATH BOOK BY CLIFFORD A. PICKOVER

  5. Viruses, Plagues, & History: Past, Present, and Future by Michael B.A. Oldstone

    An immunobiologist describes how microbes have shaped history and may affect the future. Oxford University Press, 2009, 383 p., $17.95. VIRUSES, PLAGUES, & HISTORY: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE BY MICHAEL B.A. OLDSTONE

  6. Seasick: Ocean Change and the Extinction of Life on Earth by Alanna Mitchell

    Ocean degradation is widespread and portends trouble for life on dry land, a journalist argues. University of Chicago Press, 2009, 161 p., $25. SEASICK: OCEAN CHANGE AND THE EXTINCTION OF LIFE ON EARTH BY ALANNA MITCHELL

  7. Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose: Natural History in Early America by Lee Alan Dugatkin

    For the third American president, natural history was a matter of national pride. University of Chicago Press, 2009, 166 p., $26. MR. JEFFERSON AND THE GIANT MOOSE: NATURAL HISTORY IN EARLY AMERICA BY LEE ALAN DUGATKIN

  8. Take-Home Physics: 65 High-Impact, Low-Cost Labs by Michael Horton

    A former physics teacher offers ideas for home-based experiments that are appropriate for high school students. NSTA Press, 2009, 295 p., $24.95. TAKE-HOME PHYSICS: 65 HIGH-IMPACT, LOW-COST LABS BY MICHAEL HORTON

  9. Health & Medicine

    Mom and Dad not equally to blame for some bad genes

    Common genetic variants may have different effects on disease depending which parent passes along the trait.

  10. Science Past from the issue of December 19, 1959

    LOW-MELTING ELEMENTS MAKE HIGH HEAT MATERIAL — Two chemical elements, both of which will melt in the sun on a hot day, have been combined to produce a material capable of withstanding temperatures up to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Gallium phosphide, a yellow compound resembling ground glass, has been prepared from gallium … and phosphorus…. The […]

  11. Science Future for December 19, 2009

    January 1 The International Year of Biodiversity begins. Find events at www.cbd.int/2010/calendar January 17–21 The American Meteorological Society hosts its annual meeting in Atlanta. Go to www.ametsoc.org/MEET/annual/index.html February 18–22 Researchers from across disciplines converge in San Diego for the AAAS annual meeting. See www.aaas.org/meetings/2010

  12. Letters

    Plan for a long stay Lawrence Krauss’ idea of staying permanently on Mars (SN: 10/10/09, p.4) is fascinating, but criticism by John F. Fay and Jeffry Mueller (Feedback, SN: 11/21/09 p.29) missed important information. Krauss too missed the best of all scientific comparisons. Regarding the travel to the American continent by the Pilgrims: the “capital […]