Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Humans

    From the April 20, 1935, issue

    Workings of human body portrayed in new exhibit, tapping brain waves to study epilepsy, and the discovery of a new amino acid.

  2. Physics

    Einstein at Home

    The Einstein@Home program offers participants a chance to use idle time on their computers to search for spinning pulsars in data collected by gravitational-wave detectors in the United States and Europe. This Web site describes the program and lets you sign up your computer for cutting-edge astrophysics research. Go to: http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/

  3. 19546

    In this article, the use of light therapy was shown to fight depression. I would suggest consideration of the possibility that the light therapy also increased the levels of vitamin D in these patients. Patrick AlbrightCresson, Pa. A review published last year by the Cochrane Library also found evidence that bright-light treatment is effective against […]

  4. 19545

    It seems that one of the intriguing potential beneficial applications of hydrogen sulfide-induced torpor would emerge if it turns out that cancer cells are less sensitive to the gas than healthy cells are. If we could turn down the metabolic activity of normal tissue, reducing its sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs, while the cancer cells remained […]

  5. 19544

    Your article on the reaction of nanoparticles of iron with trichloroethane (TCE) contaminating an aquifer, states that the TCE is converted “into ethane.” What happens to the chlorine stripped off the TCE? Is it converted into insoluble inorganic compounds or is it available to react with another aquifer contaminant to possibly form another toxic substance? […]

  6. 19543

    This article made me wonder about the possibility of a continuum of matter. Could part of the problem in identifying dark matter be that only part of the spectrum of matter is observable by our senses and sensors? As there are sound waves above and below the frequencies we can hear, and light waves we […]

  7. Humans

    From the April 13, 1935, issue

    A giant meteorite discovered in Kansas, gasoline made from coal in Germany, and elastic rock layers deep in the earth.

  8. Math

    Paper Enigma

    The enigma machine was used by Germany during World War II to encrypt and decrypt messages. Created by Mike Koss, the plans and detailed instructions offered on these Web pages allow you to build your own fully functioning, paper version of this infamous machine. Go to: http://mckoss.com/Crypto/Enigma.htm

  9. Humans

    Letters from the April 16, 2005, issue of Science News

    Ax questions, hard answers Another hypothesis for the polish on the Stone Age corundum ax head is that the Stone Age people never had absolutely pure corundum, which indeed would have required diamond to polish (“In the Buff: Stone Age tools may have derived luster from diamond,” SN: 2/19/05, p. 116). It is possible that […]

  10. 19542

    In this article researcher S. Jill James implicates low glutathione and heavy metal exposure in autism. This may be the case, but glutathione has a number of important functions that have nothing to do with heavy metal binding. As an antioxidant, glutathione reduces toxic free radicals. Glutathione is also a key factor in the maintenance […]

  11. 19541

    Research results on the physiological effects of blue light 1.5 hours before bedtime makes me wonder about the effects on sleep and, subsequently, mood and metabolism for the millions of us who spend hours each night staring into two sources of blue light, the television and the computer screen. Jill HolmgrenFairbanks, Alaska

  12. 19540

    This article gives the casual reader the distorted view that one could travel the solar system at will by using these methods. These are generally small perturbations on the much larger primary propulsion requirement that is fixed by standard two-body orbital mechanics. John OldsonSan Diego, Calif. In the course of its eccentric orbit, the moon […]