Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. 2010 Science News of the Year: Matter & Energy

    Approaching the island of stability Smashing together the elements calcium-48, with 20 protons, and berkelium-249, with 97, has produced superheavy atoms containing 117 protons, albeit for a tiny sliver of a second (SN: 4/24/10, p. 15). Temporarily known as ununseptium, the new element fills an empty spot in the periodic table between the previously discovered […]

  2. 2010 Science News of the Year: Life

    Credit: Javier García Warming changes how and where animals live New concerns have emerged about how climate warming might challenge animals and change the way they go about their lives. For example, a coalition of lizard specialists suggests that by midcentury a third of lizard populations won’t have enough time for foraging or other vital […]

  3. Science Past from the issue of December 31, 1960

    “TAKING IT EASY” IS BAD FOR BUSINESS EXECUTIVES — Physicians should not always tell worried, nervous business executives to “take it easy,” [said] Dr. Gerald Gordon…. If the emotions were not released, they would be turned inward and result in “suicide through stress diseases like heart disorders,” [he] said…. The basic emotions of pain, hunger, […]

  4. Science Future for January 1, 2011

    January 3 – 4The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks. Look east and up between midnight and dawn. Visit www.seasky.org/sky.html for more information. January 8 Test engineering skills in a LEGO Building Challenge in Portland, Ore. See www.omsi.edu January 11 – 20 Preschoolers experiment with the rainbow’s colors at Phoenix’s Arizona Science Center. See www.azscience.org

  5. Book Review: Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature by Brian Switek

    Review by Sid Perkins.

  6. Book Review: Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All by Paul A. Offit

    Review by Nathan Seppa.

  7. What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly

    By viewing technology as an organism, a tech journalist projects how new devices might evolve. Viking, 2010, 336 p., $27.95.

  8. Escape from the Ivory Tower by Nancy Baron

    A communications expert gives scientists a practical guide to making their work better understood. Island Press, 2010, 272 p., $27.50.

  9. Come See the Earth Turn by Lori Mortensen, illustrations by Raúl Allén

    Aimed at kids age 7 to 9, this picture book shows how Léon Foucault and his pendulum demonstrated the Earth’s spin. Tricycle Press, 2010, 32 p., $17.99.

  10. Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson

    In what he calls a “natural history of innovation,” a science writer identifies patterns throughout history, mining the past for lessons in creativity. Riverhead Books, 2010, 336 p., $26.95.

  11. From Jars to the Stars by Todd Neff

    by An engaging history recounts how the Ball Brothers Co. went from making mason jars to building the Deep Impact spacecraft. Earthview Media, 2010, 327 p., $24.95.

  12. Letters

    Quality check Thank you for great reporting. I’m a longtime subscriber to Science News (since the 1970s) and want to compliment your reporters, writers and editors on the high quality of your articles, which often involve material that is difficult to explain. They make the news of science understandable, informative and entertaining. Hopefully, publications like […]