All Stories by Science News
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19627
Epidemiologist Scott Davis warns, “Melatonin supplements are not regulated” the way drugs are. . . . “There may be all kinds of impurities and contaminants.” Are you really going to tell me that you aren’t going to take melatonin—if you’re convinced that it might lower your chance of getting cancer by as much as 50 […]
- Humans
Letters from the January 7, 2006, issue of Science News
Death in the Americas I was wondering if researchers have given any thought to the idea that in the same way that disease devastated human populations after the European discovery of the Americas, perhaps disease was a contributing factor in the demise of much of the fauna of the Western Hemisphere (“Caribbean Extinctions: Climate change […]
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19626
It seems to me irresponsible even to float the idea, as neurologist David M. Holtzman does in this article, of chemically suppressing idle thought and daydreaming in people. Who can claim a basis for clinical discrimination of “bad” idle thought and daydreaming from the “idle thought” of intuitive problem solving and poetic imagination? More of […]
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19625
This article brought a strange conundrum to mind. If Paleolithic man was in Australia 40,000 years ago, why were the aboriginal people still living in the Stone Age when the first Europeans arrived? There were advanced cultures in the Americas by 100 B.C.E., whose ancestors had arrived by 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. Norbert EdwardsBuffalo, […]
- Humans
From the December 21 & 28, 1935, issues
Snow in California, outstanding 1935 achievements in science, and an expedition to Tibet.
- Math
Math Meets the Simpsons
Over many years, the popular animated TV series The Simpsons has included numerous references to mathematics and even featured a mathematician as a character on the show. This Web site provides an episode-by-episode listing of references to math in The Simpsons, compiled by mathematicians Sarah J. Greenwald of Appalachian State University and Andrew Nestler of […]
- Humans
Science News of the Year 2005
A review of important scientific achievements reported in Science News during the year 2005.
- Humans
Letters from the December 24 & 31, 2005, issue of Science News
Bends, the truth I very much enjoyed “Cool Birds” (SN: 10/22/05, p. 266). What struck me, however, was a passage that mentioned the “bird’s resistance to the bends” and the researchers’ alleged inability to explain that. As a scuba diver, I know that the bends, or decompression sickness, is caused by breathing compressed air underwater. […]
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19624
Presumably, you were attempting to be funny in this article, but the bias was too obvious, straight out of the anti–intelligent design talking points. Instead of ridicule, could we get a spirited exchange from the best minds on both sides? David F. CoppedgeNewhall, Calif. While I’m extremely skeptical of the claims that some intelligent design […]
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19623
This fine piece about invasive sea squirts states that the critters maintain an unappetizing surface pH of 2. Does this make these mats harmful to touch? Andrew J. DolsonRichmond, Va. Robert Whitlatch of the University of Connecticut, who grows Didemnum in the lab, says it’s fine to handle for short periods of time, “though I […]
- Humans
From the December 14, 1935, issue
A TVA dam nears completion, sleep aids memory and relearning, and shedding light on the upper atmosphere.
- Humans
Pioneers in Science Writing
Starting in the early 1920s, Science Service, which publishes Science News, played a significant role in promoting the public understanding of science. Its staff of writers included several women who were pioneers in the emerging field of science journalism. The Smithsonian Institution Archives has a Web exhibit that highlights the careers of five of these […]
