Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. 19521

    Your article appears to suggest that healing of old people could be promoted by young people’s blood. Perhaps there is something to the Dracula story after all. Young people give blood for money. Anything known about the effect of transfusions on old people? Bill HawkinsMinneapolis, Minn. The mice in this experiment exchanged far more blood […]

  2. Humans

    From the February 23, 1935, issue

    A new type of "atom" gun, solar X rays, and crushing mineral ore.

  3. Physics

    Particle Physics Phun

    An array of games, such as Particle Pinball and Race for Energy, challenge visitors at a Web site hosted by the high-energy physics center known as the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Aimed at kids, the “Fermilabyrinth” pages introduce players to a zoo of elementary particles while it exercises pattern-recognition skills that scientists use to spot […]

  4. Humans

    Letters from the February 26, 2005, issue of Science News

    Let’s move it, people When I read of the Hubble Space Telescope–repair controversy (“People, Not Robots: Panel favors shuttle mission to Hubble,” SN: 12/18&25/04, p. 388; “Lean Times: Proposed budget keeps science spending slim,” SN: 2/12/05, p. 102), this question comes to mind: Why can’t an unmanned, powered vehicle latch on to Hubble and fly […]

  5. 19520

    Early in our history, U.S. citizens ate bushmeat. We hunted deer, bear, squirrel, rabbit, possum, turkey, pheasant, armadillo, and other wild game. We hunted because it was easier to hunt than to earn the money necessary to buy meat. We diminished our supply of wild game. Africans are simply doing what we used to do. […]

  6. Humans

    From the February 16, 1935, issue

    Saving wild ducks, deciphering Mayan glyphs, and causes of deafness.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Multiple Sclerosis

    This Web site is an excellent starting point for anyone looking into multiple sclerosis (MS), whether as a patient, family member, doctor, researcher, or student. In addition to explaining this autoimmune disorder in detail, it offers links to sites that delve into treatments, current research, fundraising events, clinical trials of new drugs, and breaking news […]

  8. 19519

    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. It is possible that these people used one grade of corundum to make the ax head and a slightly harder grade to polish it. […]

  9. Humans

    Letters from the February 19, 2005, issue of Science News

    Negative thinking The article “Sweet Glow: Nanotube sensor brightens path to glucose detection” (SN: 1/1/05, p. 3) mentions “ferricyanide, an electron-hungry molecule.” This puzzled me no end. Aren’t ferricyanide molecules, unlike their ions, electrically neutral? I’m trying to visualize ravenous molecules gobbling up innocent electrons. Ernest NussbaumBethesda, Md. Ferricyanide is indeed an ion, with a […]

  10. 19518

    This article mentions several possible triggers for migraines, with a patent foramen ovale being one. There is also the change-in-weather trigger, from which I suffer. All the symptoms mentioned in the article could cause a fairly sudden change in blood pressure. A weather-related change in barometric pressure might have the same effect. I wonder if […]

  11. 19517

    This article overlooks an immeasurable long-term cost of whole-body computed tomography scans: the potential cancers induced by high-dose radiation. Aggressive marketing of CT scans without full disclosure of the risk is unethical and should be illegal. Nancy EvansSan Francisco, Calif.

  12. Humans

    Letters from the February 12, 2005, issue of Science News

    Short end of the chromosome Since “women with chronically ill children generally reported more stress” and since “there was a very striking connection between stress and telomere length” (“Stressed to Death: Mental tension ages cells,” SN: 12/4/04, p. 355), isn’t it probable that there is a strong connection between telomere length and becoming the parent […]