All Stories by Science News
- Ecosystems
Tallgrass Prairie
The Openlands Project played a key role in converting the former Joliet Arsenal in Illinois into the first national tallgrass prairie. This Web site traces the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie’s history and provides a variety of classroom activities for students in grades 1 to 12. Lessons include plant investigations, predator and prey relationships, prairie climate, […]
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19561
Your article made the minimization of aflatoxins in peanuts sound beneficial until the recommendation to treat the ground beneath the peanut pallets with insecticides. This will induce harm to the soil wildlife on which African farmers and villagers are dependent and to any nearby water sources. It will also add a toxic substance to the […]
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19560
Your article refers to the Earth’s magnetic field only at very long wavelengths. In over 70 years’ exposure to science, I have never heard of our magnetic field having wavelengths. Please elaborate. Kenneth E. StoneCherryvale, Kan. Looking at Earth’s magnetic field at long wavelengths is analogous to looking at a picture in low resolution, says […]
- Humans
Letters from the June 11, 2005, issue of Science News
Dim prospects To a layman like me, it seems almost impossible that light reflected from a body that lies “much farther from the star than Pluto does from the sun” could be seen from Earth at a distance of 450 light years, when Pluto, only 6 light hours away, reflects so little light to Earth […]
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19559
It was interesting to read of processing mundane noise to produce an ultrasound image of the geology of Los Angeles. A big question in the state is the deep structure of San Francisco Bay. Clearly, the bay and the valleys extending to its northwest and southeast form a rift valley. But it’s difficult to observe […]
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19558
This article seems determined to impose (not very) modern cultural views on data that do not support them. Females would have benefited from a male “bringing home food”?! To the best of our knowledge Australopithecus afarensis was a foraging species, members of all ages and both sexes eating what they found as they found it. […]
- Humans
From the June 1, 1935, issue
High-voltage circuit breakers, harnessing tides for electric power, and confirming the existence of the Sargasso Sea.
- Earth
Sustainable Resource Use
This British Web site provides educational material about the sustainable use of resources, including water, waste management, textiles, and timber. It provides puzzles, experiments, worksheets, and lesson plans, with links to a wide range of environmental information. Go to: http://www.e4s.org.uk/
- Humans
Letters from the June 4, 2005, issue of Science News
Stem winder “Full Stem Ahead” (SN: 4/2/05, p. 218) showed several reasons why stem cell research is a good thing: Stem cells from embryos might cure cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and many other diseases. But the article should have included the fact that stem cells may help with transplanting organs. Stem cells may […]
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19557
This article reads as if there is something to be alarmed about. By selectively catching large fish, we have reduced “the mean size [of food fish to] one-fifth of what it was.” This is not cause for alarm. It is cause for a decision: What do we want, small fish or large fish? Humans are […]
- Humans
Letters from the May 28, 2005, issue of Science News
Hunger pangs I was interested to read about factors influencing the “hunger hormone’s”—ghrelin’s—effectiveness (“Still Hungry?” SN: 4/2/05, p. 216). One factor not considered but seemingly very significant is physical activity. I suggest that it is more useful to understand and encourage the positive effects of physical activity on overall well-being than to develop new drugs […]
- Humans
From the May 25, 1935, issue
A yacht's air resistance-reducing mast, plants that absorb poison, and new fossils from Patagonia.
