Science News
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All Stories by Science News
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19817
The fact that more people are overdosing on niacin to cover up relatively benign marijuana use exemplifies what’s wrong with the failed “War on Drugs” approach. Chris MajDenver, Colo.
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19816
I have to ask you to remove the subtitle “Dangerous Bridge” under the photograph of the exit ramp from the New Jamarat Bridge in Saudi Arabia. There has never been an accident on that ramp, and the bridge is now being overhauled to make it safer. Dirk HelbingDresden University of TechnologyDresden, Germany
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19815
This article “underscores the vast distances” humans moved from Africa to northern China in 20,000 years. However, if one stops to consider the time frames, it’s extremely unremarkable. At three generations every 100 years and roughly 6,000 miles from Africa to China, people would need to move only an average of 10 miles per generation. […]
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19814
This study on canker sores compared an “untreated” group with a group using licorice patches. A more valid comparison would be for the control group to be treated with patches that contained no licorice. Janet McClureCardiff, Calif.
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19813
“Migraines in men linked to heart attack risks” (SN: 5/26/07, p. 333) states that although men who suffer from migraines are more likely to experience heart attacks, scientists have failed to find a biological mechanism linking them. Such a link seems to be suggested in this earlier Science News article, which states that a patent […]
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19812
Reading this article, I was struck by the similarity between the image that used a cone-shaped mirror and the images you get from gravitational lensing. As the same data are available in both types of images, it ought to be possible to process gravitationally imaged objects in a way to reconstruct their 3-D shapes under […]
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Humans
Letters from the April 7, 2007, issue of Science News
Winter wonders The theory of “nuclear winter” was originally put forward by an Eastern European mathematician in the 1980s (“Sudden Chill,” SN: 2/3/07, p. 72). Some months later, it was shown that an error in his original calculations so vastly exaggerated “nuclear winter” as to make it meaningless. Still, the dramatic concept of a “nuclear […]
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The Billion Tree Campaign
The United Nations Environment Programme has launched a major global tree-planting campaign to encourage people, businesses, and governments to enter tree-planting pledges online. The effort’s objective is to plant at least one billion trees worldwide during 2007. Go to: http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign
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Humans
Letters from the March 31, 2007, issue of Science News
On the hoof Do cows and other domestic-herd animals really emit more methane than bison and other wild-herd animals emitted before people came along? Do grass, alfalfa, and other pasture plants remove less carbon dioxide than do forests? There were open grasslands before pastures replaced some forests. I hope the people who are researching these […]
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Science & Society
From the March 20, 1937, issue
The real Groundhog Day, microfilm book storage, and turning farm waste into chemical products.
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Ecosystems
Lakeshore Nature Preserve
This nature preserve at the University of Wisconsin–Madison protects undeveloped lands along the shore of Lake Mendota. Even if you can’t visit it in person, the award-winning interactive map will help you appreciate the qualities of this beautiful slice of nature. Go to: http://www.lakeshorepreserve.wisc.edu