Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. 19266

    In your article, you state that the cloned foal Prometea is a genetic twin of her birth mother which contributed the nuclear DNA. This is not true, as twins have identical nuclear and mitochondrial genes. The cytoplasm of the cloned foal was obtained from a slaughtered horse. The cytoplasm, and therefore the mitochondrial genes, of […]

  2. 19335

    I have a real problem with the way that the so-called robot-designed robot is described in this article. I used to do large-scale manufacturing automation, and I consider what is being done a parlor trick. There are only two things that could be called “robotic” in the system: The computer-aided manufacturing machinery that built the […]

  3. 19265

    Regarding this article, the challenge is how to increase the anomalous risk perceptions of white males. Their low risk perception may lead to higher use of cigarettes and other addictive drugs, lower use of condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, driving at unsafe speeds and while intoxicated, poor eating practices, higher use of guns, and […]

  4. 19334

    In your article about the use of kites for science, we are told that Antarctica is “[m]ore than half a world away from Kansas.” I know a shorter route. It’s a round, round world, after all! Marvin E. Kahn Darnestown, Md.

  5. Humans

    From the August 5, 1933, issue

    A MILLION YEARS OF MAN A million years of the past history of man, as he climbed upward through the stone age, are recreated in exhibits and life-sized models and dioramas just placed on view by the Field Museum in Chicago. The exhibits represent the results of years of research, of several museum expeditions, and […]

  6. Humans

    Engineer Girl

    Presented by the National Academy of Engineering, this attractive Web site aims to encourage girls to consider engineering as a career. Site material provides a picture of what engineering is and why it is important. It includes profiles of women engineers in various roles and other career information. Go to: http://www.engineergirl.org/nae/cwe/egmain.nsf/?Opendatabase

  7. 19037

    The new technology sounds great, but I am concerned about the food wrap described, given that my husband, among others, is acutely allergic to shellfish. If Yasa-sheet is, indeed, made from a crab-shell derivative, won’t it cause an allergic reaction? Lee DaneRidge Spring, S.C.

  8. 18895

    As a plodder without the turbo gene I can appreciate those fortunate enough to have it. I would direct the researchers to two other groups of track and field participants: discus throwers and shot putters. I was a thrower in the 1960s, and through the 1970s and 1980s, I was a meet official for these […]

  9. 18893

    I thought your article was somewhat misleading. It referred to dark energy as a “substance,” which it’s probably not, that’s “ripping the cosmos apart,” although this phrase implies far more violence than has been attributed to dark energy. And you described the findings as “wrenching” when, in fact, they all correlate with and confirm the […]

  10. 19333

    The serious harm caused by microscopic dust really made me wonder about diesel. You noted that the submicron-scale spheres in the lungs of a nonsmoking resident of Mexico City appeared to be diesel-exhaust particles. While Europeans worry about what will happen in 100 years from global warming, could they be killing themselves now with their […]

  11. Humans

    From the July 29, 1933, issue

    ON A SPARKLING SEA The photographer very likely took a more beautiful picture than he thought he would when, flying low over the Canadian Pacific’s Empress of Australia, he snapped the photograph that adorns the front cover of this week’s Science News Letter. The vessel has a gross tonnage of 21,850 tons and her displacement […]

  12. Computing

    Computer Game Art and History

    Curious about early video games or recent developments in game technology? This Web site accompanies the “Game On” exhibition, developed by the Barbicon Gallery and the National Museums of Scotland. An exhibition guide briefly explains what the various displays include. The education section offers tips for creating a video game as a classroom project. The […]