All Stories by Science News
- Humans
One-Stop Shopping for Every Species
On Feb. 26, the Encyclopedia of Life went live. This site hopes to become the definitive place to find information on every living species—millions and millions of them. The first extensive sets of entries will include fish and members of the potato and tomato families. But more species will be added all the time—offering basic […]
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19932
Regarding this article: A black hole is in a geometrical sense an end to the universe. If we picture the universe using Euclidean geometry, we can imagine going straight out forever. As we approach a black hole, the huge mass changes the geometry so that we also go on forever reaching the surface. We cannot […]
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19931
This article shows the formula for sodium hydrosulfide as NaH2S. Would it not be more accurate to present it as NaHS? G. David GrubbsCorinth, Texas The reader is correct.
- Humans
Letters from the March 8, 2008, issue of Science News
No cure yet “Growing Up to Prozac: Drug makes new neurons mature faster” (SN: 2/9/08, p. 83) suggests that growth of new brain cells, along with increasing connections, may mediate some of the effect of some SSRIs. Since these new cells would likely persist significantly longer than the drugs themselves, do we see a “cure” […]
- Astronomy
Urgently Wanted—Star Counters
Through March 8, an organization known as GLOBE at Night is asking for help tallying celestial bodies in the constellation Orion. Designed as a teaching aid, this star-counting program aims to emphasize the loss-of-darkness throughout the globe, a problem which hinders ground-based astronomy. Students, families, and the general public can report their results online by […]
- Humans
From the February 26, 1938, issue
Evidence of religious head-hunting in ancient Peru, the link between climate and body size, and chest pain tied to obesity.
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19930
I feel that Rachel Ehrenberg was entirely too glib in this article. The description of an ancient Mayan religious ritual as “plucking the hearts from humans and tossing the bodies into the sacred cenote” is disrespectful. I am sure that Science News would never describe any contemporary religious rituals in this manner. Here is hoping […]
- Humans
Letters from the March 1, 2008, issue of Science News
Big evolvers Regarding “Whales Drink Sounds: Hearing may use an ancient path” (SN: 2/9/08, p. 84), I have heard that whales evolved millions of years ago into their present form, including their very large brains. We humans must be relatively recent in terms of our brain structures. Are there data concerning evolutionary development in whales? […]
- Astronomy
New Worlds Atlas
Keep track of the ever-expanding list of newly discovered planets orbiting distant suns at PlanetQuest 2.0, a revamped Website developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It has images, “planet system visualizations,” movies and games that simulate interstellar exploration, and even lets you install a desktop planet counter so that your computer always displays the latest […]
- Humans
From the February 19, 1938, issue
A rough, tough charioteer from ancient Sumer, Americans' poor eating habits, and digging up an early industrial town.
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19929
In reference to this article, scarcity requires society to allocate. Usually markets do a better job than law at allocating efficiently and fairly. Lake Mead could remain full to the brim regardless of pending climate change. The quoted “demand” for 16.6 km3 of Lake Mead water in Southern California and Arizona is not some fixed […]
- Humans
Letters from the February 23, 2008, issue of Science News
Music of sound I was intrigued by the article “Embracing the Dark Side” (SN: 2/2/08, p. 74). It states: “The interaction of gravity, matter, and radiation in the early universe set up acoustic oscillations, cosmic sound waves that left their imprints on the distribution of galaxies across the sky.” Spanish poet Antonio Machado [1875–1939] put […]
