Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. The Wonders Inside: Bugs & Spiders by Jan Stradling

    Illustrations for a young audience detail the anatomy and the ecosystems of these creatures. THE WONDERS INSIDE: BUGS & SPIDERS BY JAN STRADLING Silver Dolphin Books, 2009, 90 p., $19.95.

  2. Science Past from the issue of August 29, 1959

    Fetal sex still unknown — Expectant mothers still face the ancient and perplexing problem of whether to knit blue or pink booties, despite the advances of this scientific age. Although scientists appear to be near to perfecting a reliable method of predicting the sex of unborn babies, the present “wait and see” policy remains the […]

  3. Science Future for August 29, 2009

    September 29 MESSENGER spacecraft expected to make its third and final flyby of Mercury. Learn more at messenger.jhuapl.edu October 4–10 Celebrate World Space Week. Find local events and activities at www.worldspaceweek.org October 18–21 The Geological Society of America hosts its annual meeting in Portland, Ore. Visit www.geosociety.org/meetings/2009

  4. Letters

    Conspiratorial skepticism After achieving two degrees in psychology, I concluded that the field is largely bereft of genuine insight and simple common sense, and that it masquerades as a science, with notable exceptions here and there. Articles such as “Tracing the inner world of suspicion,” (SN: 6/20/09, p. 11) confirm and underline psychology’s essential mindlessness. […]

  5. Science Future for August 15, 2009

    August 31–September 4 Scientists and policy makers meet at the World Climate Conference-3 in Geneva. Visit www.wmo.int/wcc3 September 2–6 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society meeting in Minneapolis. See www.embc09.org September 12–16 Educators explore new teaching methods at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific meeting in Millbrae, Calif. See www.astrosociety.org/events/meeting.html

  6. Science Past from the issue of August 15, 1959

    Complex “Moon” Succeeds — Explorer VI, sent up on Aug. 7, is the most complex satellite launched by the United States. The 142-pound satellite orbits the earth from 150 miles at its lowest point to some 25,000 miles at its farthest… This highly elliptical flight path means that the satellite’s instruments will cover a larger […]

  7. Letters

    Making tall or short of it In your article “The genetic dimension of height and health” ( SN: 5/9/09, p. 22 ), some medical consequences of being either taller or shorter than the median height of the study group are explained. To help us all extrapolate these findings to our own lives, don’t you think […]

  8. Life

    Book Review: The Root of Thought: Unlocking Glia–The Brain Cell That Will Help Us Sharpen Our Wits, Heal Injury, and Treat Brain Disease by Andrew Koob

    Review by Tina Hesman Saey.

  9. Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia: A Photographic Guide by Richard Chandler

    A shorebird photographer offers detailed commentary on and vivid photos of 135 shorebird species. But no gulls. Princeton Univ., 2009, 448 p., $35. SHOREBIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA, EUROPE, AND ASIA: A PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE BY RICHARD CHANDLER

  10. Force and Motion: An Illustrated Guide to Newton’s Laws by Jason Zimba

    Problem sets help high school and college students of all backgrounds understand mechanics. Johns Hopkins Univ., 2009, 428 p., $50 FORCE AND MOTION: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO NEWTON’S LAWS BY JASON ZIMBA

  11. Science Past from the issue of August 1, 1959

    Rename discomfort index — This summer you have a chance to “do something about,” not the weather, but the combination of heat and humidity that often makes so many persons so uncomfortable. The Weather Bureau in June started experimentally … publishing for the summer what it then called the “Discomfort Index.” The immediate results were […]

  12. Science Future for August 1, 2009

    August 12–15 Scientists convene at the American Ornithologists’ Union meeting in Philadelphia. Visit www.birdmeetings.org/aou2009 August 31 Proposals to digitize scientist Wernher von Braun’s notes due to NASA. See www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/home September 12 The Smithsonian Institution hosts a symposium on Darwin in Washington, D.C. See www.mnh.si.edu/calendar.asp