All Stories by Science News
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19169
In this article you mention that Lyme disease is the most common “insect-borne” disease in the United States. Since Lyme disease is spread by ticks, and ticks have eight legs and are arachnids, Lyme disease is not insect-borne. Anne Van Aller Woodbine, Md.
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19168
I found this article quite fascinating. In 1973, my colleagues and I showed that rats would respond with the future in mind. Specifically, rats will make a response that results in one immediate electric shock, as long as that punished response is instrumental in avoiding five identical shocks programmed to occur 10 seconds later. It […]
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19167
Just because chemical equipment can measure parts per trillion doesn’t necessarily mean that they have any biological significance. If you took one pill of Tylenol and dissolved in an olympic-size swimming pool, that would roughly be 1 part per billion. One part per trillion would be one pill in 1,000 swimming pools. My point is […]
- Humans
From the June 14, 1930, issue
1,500,000,000 YEARS OF LIFE PORTRAYED IN GREAT HALL OF PAINTINGS Fifteen hundred million years of life on this planet will be unrolled as a single connected epic in a series of three majestic new halls planned for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Fossils, rocks, mounted plant and animal specimens, paintings, and statuary […]
- Earth
Disaster Pix
If you’re one of those people who need to see the extent of intense weather events and great natural disasters–preferably as they are developing–this Web site is for you. Satellite images, provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Operational Significant Event Imagery division, portray hurricanes, dust storms, snowfall, forest fires, volcanic plumes, and much […]
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19166
I read your article about bilirubin protecting cells from free radicals and possibly cancer and heart disease. People with Gilbert’s syndrome, which affects 5 percent of the population, have higher-than-normal amounts of bilirubin in their blood. Has any study been conducted to ascertain whether people with Gilbert’s syndrome have a lower incidence of cancer and […]
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19165
“Waves,” or crenulations, occur not only on water icicles, but also in caves on dripstone and flowstone speleothems composed of calcite, epsomite, goethite, and even mud. All of these formations display “wavelengths” of around 1 centimeter. The origin of these crenulations is due not to heat, but to greater evaporation and carbon dioxide loss from […]
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19193
I note with some incredulity that happiness (joy, elation) in some form is missing from the list of “basic” universal emotions, and even from the extended list of 9 or 10. Is happiness not considered a basic emotion? Did ancient Hindus not experience joy and hence not express it in dance? Or is happiness considered […]
- Humans
From the December 10, 1932, issue
CALVES RETAIN PART OF WILD THINGS’ CHARM Cows are prosaic. Like all the rest of us who have grown into maturity and (alas!) responsibility, they have their workaday jobs in a workaday world, seeing to it that we get butter and, eventually, beefsteaks. But calves still have something reminiscent of the long-lost wild freedom of […]
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Grossology
This Web site from the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh accompanies a traveling exhibit, based on the book Grossology by Sylvia Branzei, that addresses many of the “slimy, oozy, crusty, stinky” questions that kids love to ask about the human body. Visitors can view scenes from the exhibit, listen to gross body sounds, try out […]
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19213
This article says that in cavitation, “bubbles form when falling pressure permits dissolved gases to pop out of solution.” A cavitation-vapor bubble is formed when the pressure drops below the vapor-liquid saturation pressure for the liquid. Dissolved gas bubbles will just give you a fizzy cola. A.J. McPhateBaton Rouge, La.
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19212
It’s no surprise to find that the Borneo tree frog tunes into his tree hole. From the resonance of electron shells to the orbits of planets, stars, and galaxies, harmonic relationships define all of creation. Many frogs have external tympanic membranes that resonate to their tiny chirpings. This mechanism helps put entire ponds full of […]
