All Stories by Science News
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My DNA Project
Having trouble cracking the code that geneticists use to describe new molecular advances in health and medicine? Well, researchers at the University of Massachusetts have developed a program aimed at helping the public acquire the tools—including vocabulary, and background information—necessary to “become comfortable with genome issues, and to learn how to take advantage of the […]
- Humans
From the December 11, 1937, issue
A sturdy new building for a mountaintop weather station, proving the authenticity of a treasure, and tracking cosmic rays underground.
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19909
The photo illustrated in this article does not show a golden eagle. The bill of a golden eagle is black on the outer half and pale blue at the base, and the feathers on the back of its head are bright tawny. It could be a white-tailed eagle, a very close relative of the bald […]
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19908
This article talks of restoring prairies to an earlier state, but if the concepts summarized in Charles C. Mann’s book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus are even within shouting distance of reality, the “native prairie” being pursued by some represents a fleeting moment in time created by the destruction of a civilization […]
- Humans
Letters from the December 15, 2007, issue of Science News
Fuzzy logic Astronomer Masanori Iye of the National Observatory of Japan blames the blurry appearance of meteor trails at about 100 kilometers altitude on the fact that they were photographed with telescopes focused at infinity (“Out-of-focus find,” SN: 9/29/07, p. 205). But optics teaches that any object much farther away than the focal length of […]
- Humans
From the December 4, 1937, issue
The perfect beauty of frost rime, the sun's surprising influence on earth, and digging up evidence of ancient domestic cats.
- Earth
Water Vapor by Any Other Name
One can learn a lot by studying clouds—or just relax and soak in their beauty. Subscribers to both schools can find plenty of fodder in the British Cloud Appreciation Society’s gallery of nearly 3,200 photos. They’re organized by meteorological type, optical effects, and even by what a cloud might resemble—like “Casper the Ghost, spotted over […]
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19907
I was disappointed to see optical quantum computers described as “exponentially faster than ordinary computers” in your article. Despite frequent misuse in the lay press, “exponentially” does not mean “a whole bunch.” It refers to a specific mathematical functional relationship, not merely a comparison of two numbers. The article doesn’t describe any such function. Even […]
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19906
When Ai, mother of the chimp Amuyu, whose mental feats you reported in this article, appeared in a television documentary a few years ago, I reproduced for myself the number-sequence test she performed and found that, after practice, I could easily outperform her. After reading about Ayumu, I tried the number-recall tests that he and […]
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19905
This article says that American students’ science and math skills have been falling relative to those of their peers in other countries. How true. Recent tests put the United States in 14th place in an international comparison. But at least we are still in the top 10! Tom ReesorConway, S.C.
- Humans
Letters from the December 8, 2007, issue of Science News
Errors of biblical proportions “Lazarus taxa” is an appropriate name for species that seem to have been resurrected (“Back from the Dead?” SN: 11/17/07, p. 312). However, the Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead was a householder who lived with his sisters, Mary and Martha, in Bethany (John 11). The beggar named Lazarus appeared […]
- Humans
From the November 27, 1937, issue
A smashing new particle accelerator comes to the nation's capital, a new subatomic particle reveals its weight, and pollen in a Wisconsin bog tells of past climate change.
