Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Science Future for December 18, 2010

    December 26 Schenectady Museum in New York explores why bikes stand up. See www.schenectadymuseum.org December 27 Author John Monahan signs copies of They Called Me Mad at the National Air and Space Museum. See www.nasm.si.edu January 10 Deadline to submit original wake-up music for NASA’s final space shuttle mission. Go to https://songcontest.nasa.gov

  2. Science Past from the issue of December 17, 1960

    HEAVY SHIELD UNNECESSARY — Heavy shielding as protection for an astronaut against space radiations may not be necessary, at least for trips of less than 50 hours and at distances not greater than 618 miles from earth…. [B]iological specimens were encased in different types of metal to test their effectiveness as shielding materials. Some specimens […]

  3. Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About Animals by Hal Herzog

    Review by Susan Milius.

  4. The Abacus and the Cross: The Story of the Pope Who Brought the Light of Science to the Dark Ages by Nancy Marie Brown

    The story of Pope Sylvester II, who introduced Islamic math and science to the West. THE ABACUS AND THE CROSS: THE STORY OF THE POPE WHO BROUGHT THE LIGHT OF SCIENCE TO THE DARK AGES BY NANCY MARIE BROWN Basic Books, 2010, 328 p., $27.95.

  5. Cooking for Geeks by Jeff Potter

    Learn the science behind sautéing and other cooking techniques in this combination recipe book and introduction to food chemistry. COOKING FOR GEEKS BY JEFF POTTER O’Reilly Media, 2010, 432 p., $34.99.

  6. Pluto by Barrie W. Jones

    An astronomer explores the demoted planet and shows how it has contributed to scientists’ knowledge of the solar system. PLUTO BY BARRIE W. JONES Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010, 231 p., $35.99.

  7. Letters

    Receipt of BPA risk news Thank you so much for your recent article (“Receipts a large and little-known source of BPA,” SN: 8/28/10, p. 5) on the possible dangers of touching cash register receipts! One group you may have overlooked as being at risk was accountants and bookkeepers. I own a small tax and accounting […]

  8. Science Future for December 4, 2010

    December 5Closing ceremony of the 2010 World Memory Championships in Guangzhou, China. See www.worldmemorychampionship.com December 13 – 14Geminid meteor shower, all night but best after moonset around midnight. Look east and up. Info at http://earthsky.org December 17 Mummies of the World exhibit debuts in Milwaukee as part of its three-year tour. See www.mummiesoftheworld.com

  9. Science Past from the Dember 3, 1960 issue

    ASTHMA CLUE FROM HORSES — Research into the deaths of thoroughbred horses, especially foals, has produced an entirely new approach to the treatment of asthma, hay fever and skin troubles in human beings…. During the course of the investigation on horses, a substance was found in certain white cells in the horses’ blood that played […]

  10. Book Review: Shark: In Peril in the Sea by David Owen

    Review by Sid Perkins.

  11. Death in a Small Package by Susan D. Jones

    Part of the Johns Hopkins Biographies of Disease series, this history of anthrax describes the bacteria’s transformation from agricultural disease to biological weapon. DEATH IN A SMALL PACKAGE BY SUSAN D. JONES Johns Hopkins Univ., 2010, 329 p., $24.95.

  12. Lenin’s Laureate by Paul R. Josephson

    A historian explores Soviet science in this biography of Zhores Alferov, who won a Nobel Prize for discovering the heterojunction used in LEDs. LENIN’S LAUREATE BY PAUL R. JOSEPHSON MIT, 2010, 307 p., $29.95.