Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. 19477

    The researchers featured in this article suggest that a higher incidence of schizophrenia may be due to summer-related infections “or other seasonal factors.” June and July births would have been in early gestation during late fall and winter, when there is increased incidence of depression among adults. Might it be reasonable to suggest that “other […]

  2. Humans

    Letters from the October 30, 2004, issue of Science News

    It isn’t academic Speaking as someone with a Ph.D. in math who has spent most of his 30-year professional life unemployed and who can probably look forward to spending the rest of it unemployable, I was disappointed that “Where Ph.D.s pay off” in (SN: 8/7/04, p. 94: Where Ph.D.s pay off) made no apparent effort […]

  3. Humans

    From the October 27, 1934, issue

    A large telescope lens made in Russia, artificial gamma rays from sodium, and acetylcholine revealed as message carrier for nerve cells.

  4. Sequenced Genomes

    These listings are about as close as modern genomics gets to Pokemon cards. Here are illustrations and quick descriptions of organisms whose genomes have been sequenced. Some are familiar, such as Homo sapiens, but in most cases, it’s a great way to meet some amazing biological oddities. Go to: http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/resources/sequenced_genomes/genome_guide_p1.shtml

  5. 19476

    I would suggest that the Italian hydrologists cited in your article consider the law of unintended consequences. Similar actions begun in 1978 at an oil field in Wyoming drove methane to the surface and resulted in a large kill zone of the dominant sagebrush Artemisia tridentata. James A. ErdmanCrestone, Colo. The researchers in Italy say […]

  6. 19475

    Along with everyone else, I’ve been fired up by the amazing discovery of Homo floresiensis. Clearly, our preconceptions about brain size and intelligence, reasonably achieved by the evidence we had, must now be discarded. Oriole Parker-RhodesAnglesey, Wales

  7. 19474

    After reading this article, I noted that nowhere in the article’s text was it stated how the hydrogen is going to be stored. Storing hydrogen safely and economically is difficult, to say the least. David E. BeesonWinona Lake, Ind.

  8. 19473

    In this article you wondered, “Should gene enhancement, or doping, be permissible for athletes attempting to improve their performance?” Sure, but in separate competitions. Athletes would register as either “doped” or “clean.” The problem with doping is not the doping, it’s the cheating. Sam CoxLoveland, Colo.

  9. Humans

    Letters from the October 23, 2004, issue of Science News

    Hand to mouth “Skin proves poor portal for arsenic in treated wood” (SN: 7/24/04, p. 62: Skin proves poor portal for arsenic in treated wood) shouldn’t make parents any less wary of allowing their children to come in contact with the chromated-copper arsenate wood structures. What children pick up on their hands from a deck […]

  10. Computing

    Net History

    Nethistory.info is a new Web site devoted to the history of the Internet. Its aim is to provide material documenting the applications and platforms that came together to create the early Internet, including protocols, personal computers, e-mail, the World Wide Web, networks, and much more. You can sign up for a free monthly newsletter and […]

  11. Humans

    From the October 20, 1934, issue

    Searching New York's East River for golden treasure, enormous canyon discovered in Mexico, and new radioactive elements predicted.

  12. Humans

    Letters from the October 16, 2004, issue of Science News

    Hubble grumble The cover type “Farewell to Hubble?” (“End of the Line for Hubble?” SN: 7/24/04, p. 56: End of the Line for Hubble?) makes me wonder why we haven’t seen the headline “Farewell to the Current NASA Administrator?” The only reason I have heard for the cancellation of the planned servicing mission is “it’s […]