All Stories by Science News
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19431
Horvath and Toffel’s comparison of the environmental impacts of the paper versus the electronic editions of the New York Times is a bit misleading. A personal digital assistant isn’t good for advertising or newspaper browsing. In other words, the PDA users aren’t getting a comparable product. Still, the day is probably not too far off […]
- Physics
Corralling the Mass Maker: Hunting ground shifts for elusive particle
Hunters of the most eagerly sought particle in high-energy physics, the Higgs boson, are gleaning fresh clues about where and how to look from a new finding about another fundamental particle called the top quark.
- Physics
Light Projects
This colorful, interactive Web site provides a lively introduction to the nature of light and spectra. A product of Project LITE (Light Inquiry Through Experiments) at Boston University, the site offers a variety of applets, activities, and materials on topics ranging from color mixing and afterimage effects to moire patterns and geometrical optics. A fascinating […]
- Humans
Letters from the June 12, 2004, issue of Science News
Go with the flow In “Tales of the Undammed: Removing barriers doesn’t automatically restore river health” (SN: 4/10/04, p. 235: Tales of the Undammed), the photo comparison of the dam site is deceptive because the two photos of the same spot appear to have been taken during different seasons. Hence, the lower photo shows a […]
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19430
In the article, an agronomist claims that farmers “typically apply more fertilizer than their crops need” as an explanation for increased pollution in coastal waters. I don’t know any farmers who risk their products in the way suggested here. An examination of home lawn care would point to a much bigger problem. Mary HeinrichtCulpepper, Va. […]
- Humans
From the June 2, 1934, issue
The first chimpanzee twins born in captivity, increased speed and safety for aircraft, and a new pH indicator.
- Astronomy
Transit of Venus
On June 8, Venus will pass across the face of the sun (as viewed from Earth). Such a transit occurs rarely; the last one was in 1882. A variety of Web sites feature information about these transits and offer advice for observing and timing the 2004 event. Go to: http://www.venustransit.ie/ and http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/sunearthday/2004/index_vthome.htm
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19429
Evidently, death waits for no one, except in Belgium. Around 40 years ago, Belgian doctors went on strike for 3 months. If I remember correctly, their explanation for the fact that the death rate dropped during this period was that their patients hung on until the doctors were back at work! Martin CraggCheshire, England
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19428
The article on nanotubes as light sources was frustratingly sketchy. Any photometric laboratory with a wattmeter could compare the nanotube unit to another light source in a few minutes. It is tempting to think that the heating effect, which must be close to that from a blackbody radiator, and the “electronic effect,” which is undoubtedly […]
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19427
When cyanobacteria and plants transfer electrons photosynthetically, light is absorbed not by their photosynthetic proteins but by chlorophylls. Some of these proteins indeed participate in electron flow, but they are not plant photoreceptors. How then, do they “retain their function” and “absorb photons” in the fabricated solar cell described? Cleon RossVictor, Idaho The materials that […]
- Humans
Letters from the June 5, 2004, issue of Science News
Blackened reputation Again, humans are implicated in the promotion and distribution of our own misery (“Medieval cure-all may actually have spread disease,” SN: 4/3/04, p. 222: Medieval cure-all may actually have spread disease). However, if bitumen was wrongly credited with darkening the skin of mummified remains, what caused it? Robert FizekNewton, Mass. The coating on […]
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19426
Since the hypoxia described in this article isn’t caused directly by the fertilizer, but by the subsequent algae blooms, then perhaps an effective solution is to combat the algae. It might even be profitable to harvest the algae. If the fishing industry is capable of depleting the seas of species that we want there, then […]
