6,165 results
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Letters
Making morphine The article “Chemists pin down poppy’s tricks for producing narcotic painkiller” (SN: 4/10/10, p. 5) may presage geopolitical changes in Afghanistan, regardless of whether there are engineered virus attacks or alternative crop programs. A technological advance like this one will eventually be used in the United States and Europe. Even if governments continue […]
- Math
The happiness virus
Two studies apply social networking ideas to data from health studies of thousands of people, and suggest different interpretations of how contagious happiness or other experiences can be.
- Agriculture
Of swine flu, pigs and a state fair
To date, federal monitoring has yet to turn up any U.S. pigs infected with the killer swine flu strain known as H1N1. But Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack announced yesterday that his agency’s veterinary labs would be reexamining whether any of the apparently healthy pigs exhibited last August 16 to Sept. 1 at the Minnesota state fair might have been infected with the virus. Why? “An outbreak of 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza occurred in a group of children housed in a dormitory at the fair at the same time samples were collected from the pigs,” USDA notes
- Earth
Hazy antidote to a faint young sun
A new theory suggests atmospheric answer to the continuing paradox of why early Earth wasn’t icy.
- Animals
New HIV-1 group
Scientists have identified another variant of the virus that can cause AIDS.
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No Small Matter: Science on the Nanoscale by Felice C. Frankel and George M. Whitesides
Seemingly invisible objects such as viruses and molecules are imaged in rich detail through high-powered microscopes and photography. NO SMALL MATTER: SCIENCE ON THE NANOSCALE BY FELICE C. FRANKEL AND GEORGE M. WHITESIDES Belknap Press, 2009, 182 p., $35.
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Letters
Slumber science Your October 24 issue featuring sleep research was very interesting and helpful. However, it did not cover any research being done — there may be none — relating to the human brain and modern changes to the nighttime environment. For most of human history, not much activity could take place at night. The […]
- Health & Medicine
Chimpanzees die from primate version of HIV
A new study links the simian immunodeficiency virus to serious AIDS-like illness in a wild population.
- Health & Medicine
Swine flu vaccination should target children first
A new analysis finds that, as long as it peaks this winter, the H1N1 flu outbreak could be curtailed with a vaccination program that targets children first.
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- Life
Genetic analysis of swine flu virus reveals diverse parts
Detailed genetic analysis of the H1N1 swine flu virus indicates that its components have been present for years. The virus is still susceptible to drugs and vaccine development.
- Tech
2009 Science News of the Year: Technology
A polymer doped with a color-changing molecule turns red seconds before snapping. Credit: D. Stevenson, A. Jerez, A. Hamilton, D. Davis About to breakEngineers one day may not need to guess when a bridge is near its breaking point. New materials that flush red in response to damage may provide a visual warning sign of […]
