Science News Magazine:
Vol. 161 No. #14Trustworthy journalism comes at a price.
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More Stories from the April 6, 2002 issue
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Health & Medicine
Clotting protein hinders nerve repair
A blood-clotting protein called fibrin seems to exacerbate the regrowth problems that plague severed nerves.
By Nathan Seppa -
Chemistry
Noble gases and uranium get cozy
Chemists have created the first compounds containing both uranium and noble gases.
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Animals
Real pandas do handstands
A giant panda that upends itself into a handstand may be sending a message that it's one big bamboo-thrasher and not to be messed with.
By Susan Milius -
Health & Medicine
A tasty discovery about the tongue
Scientists can now explain how the tongue tastes the amino acids in proteins.
By John Travis -
Earth
Satellites discover new Arctic islands
Danish researchers analyzing satellite observations of remote Tobias Island, discovered in 1993 off the northeastern coast of Greenland, have stumbled upon a new group of small islands nearby.
By Sid Perkins -
Archaeology
Stone Age Siberians move up in time
Siberian sites previously thought to have been bases for early human excursions into North America may only date to about 11,300 years ago, when people have traditionally been assumed to have first reached Alaska.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
New World hunters get a reprieve
New radiocarbon evidence indicates that, beginning around 11,000 years ago, human hunters contributed to North American mammal extinctions that had already been triggered by pronounced climate shifts.
By Bruce Bower -
Hot Cereal: Rice reveals bumper crop of genes
Two research groups have identified all the genes in rice, the world's most important crop.
By John Travis -
Materials Science
Osmium is Forever: Rare metal’s strength humbles mighty diamond’s
A new route to materials harder than diamond may have opened with the surprising finding that the rare metal osmium resists compression better than diamond does.
By Peter Weiss -
Night Patrol for Tired Cops: Police lose sleep over workday hassles
A large proportion of big-city police officers suffers from insomnia and other serious sleep problems that stem from chronic work stress.
By Bruce Bower -
Animals
Lamprey Allure: Females rush to males’ bile acid
An unusual sex attractant has turned up in an analysis of sea lampreys, and it may inspire new ways to defend the Great Lakes against invasive species.
By Susan Milius -
Health & Medicine
Scrambled Drugs: Transgenic chickens could lay golden eggs
Scientists have created transgenic chickens able to produce foreign proteins—and, potentially, pharmaceuticals—in their eggs.
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Health & Medicine
Blood Vessel Poisoning: Arsenic narrows artery that feeds brain
New research suggests that drinking arsenic-laden water can produce dangerous narrowing in the carotid artery, which channels blood through the neck to the brain.
By Ben Harder -
Materials Science
A Field of Diminutive Daisies
Researchers have created tiny daisies as a demonstration of a new technique that creates three-dimensional structures from carbon nanotubes.
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Math
Guessing Secrets
Analyzing an intriguing variant of the familiar game of 20 questions provides insights into Internet communication.
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Health & Medicine
Aerial War against Disease
Researchers around the world are catching on to the idea of using satellites to predict where diseases may strike.