Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Your brain on music

    Music lights up almost every area of the brain, which shouldn’t be a surprise since it makes people tap their feet, encourages the recollection of vivid memories and has the potential to lighten the mood. Around the outside 1. Prefrontal cortex: This brain region plays a role in the creation, satisfaction and violation of expectations. […]

  2. Science Future for August 14, 2010

    September 12 – 13 A conference in Chicago focuses on the links between epilepsy and depression. See www.epilepsyanddepressivedisorders.com September 15 The 2010 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge entry deadline. Go to www.nsf.gov/news/scivis October 4 – 8Planetary scientists meet in Pasadena, Calif. See dps.aas.org/meetings/2010

  3. Science Past | FROM THE ISSUE OF AUGUST 13, 1960

    SCIENTISTS CALCULATE HOW MAN MAY FLY LIKE BIRD — Man may some day be able to fly by flapping a set of artificial wings, two Chilean scientists assert…. A 154-pound man equipped with 66 pounds of flight accessories would need wings about 10 feet long with a flight surface of 60 square feet. To maintain […]

  4. Letters

    Time’s arrow I’ve enjoyed reading Science News since I was a kid; thanks very much for producing such a fine periodical! This is the first time I’ve felt compelled to write to you about an article you’ve published: “Law and disorder” (SN: 6/19/10, p. 26). I can’t help but feel that the time theory that […]

  5. Book Review: Almost Chimpanzee: Searching for What Makes Us Human, in Rainforests, Labs, Sanctuaries, and Zoos by Jon Cohen

    Review by Bruce Bower.

  6. Planet Hunter: Geoff Marcy and the Search for Other Earths by Vicki Oransky Wittenstein

    A look at exoplanet hunting based on one astronomer’s life and work. Aimed at young adults.  PLANET HUNTER Boyds Mills Press, 2010, 48 p., $17.95.

  7. The Nesting Season: Cuckoos, Cuckolds, and the Invention of Monogamy by Bernd Heinrich

    A naturalist explores how birds find a mate and what this process says — and what it doesn’t say — about human relationships. Belknap Press, 2010, 404 p., $29.95. THE NESTING SEASON

  8. Science Future for July 31, 2010

    August 14 – 17The American Sociological Association meets in Atlanta. See www.asanet.org/meetings August 30 – September 3Researchers and policy makers meet in Boston to discuss environmental factors affecting penguin population health. See www.penguinconference.org September 1A psychologist lectures in New York City on the connection between beauty and happiness. See www.nyas.org/events

  9. Science Past  from the issue of July 30, 1960

    LIP-SMACKING GRASSHOPPER — A grasshopper with a talent for lip-smacking has turned out to be quite an unusual insect. Paratylotropidia brunneri Scudder is the first insect known to communicate over fairly long distances by producing an audible sound from the mouth — literally smacking its lips…. Produced at the rate of six or seven per […]

  10. Book Review: Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience by Stephen S. Hall

    Review by Rachel Zelkowitz.

  11. Book Review: Voyager: Seeking Newer Worlds in the Third Great Age of Discovery by Stephen J. Pyne

    Review by Alexandra Witze.

  12. Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do by Albert-László Barabási

    Mining digital data reveals patterns in seemingly spontaneous human behavior. BURSTS: THE HIDDEN PATTERN BEHIND EVERYTHING WE DO BY ALBERT-LáSZLó BARABáSI Dutton, 2010, 310 p., $26.95.