More Stories from the December 1, 2007 issue
- Anthropology
Ancient-ape remains discovered in Kenya
Newly unearthed fossils of a 9.8-million-year-old ape in eastern Africa come from a creature that may have evolved into a common ancestor of African apes and humans.
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ADHD kids show slower brain growth
A new brain-scan investigation indicates that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder involves substantial delays in children's brain development.
- Chemistry
Hydrogen makers
A new bioreactor produces hydrogen hundreds of times as fast as previous prototypes.
- Health & Medicine
Additives may make youngsters hyper
Common food colorings and the preservative sodium benzoate have the potential to foster hyperactivity and inattentiveness in children, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Patch guards against Montezuma’s revenge
A patch worn on the skin delivers a vaccine against a form of Escherichia coli that causes traveler's diarrhea.
- Health & Medicine
Bomb craters mean trouble for islanders
A skin infection in people living on the Pacific island of Satowan stems from swimming in ponds formed from World War II bomb craters there.
- Health & Medicine
Sleeping sickness pill may work as well as injections
The first oral drug for sleeping sickness is showing effectiveness in a trial in central Africa.
- Health & Medicine
Dengue virus found in donated blood
Scientists have discovered that 12 units of blood donated in Puerto Rico in late 2005 contained the dengue virus.
- Planetary Science
Sister Planet: Mission to Venus reveals watery past
The Venus Express probe has found evidence that Venus once had more water than it does today, and has provided new measurements of the weather on Venus, proof of lightning on the planet, and signs of a formerly unknown hot spot near its south pole.
- Anthropology
Northwest Passage: Americas populated via Alaska, genetics show
A single population of prehistoric Siberians crossed the Bering Strait into Alaska and fanned out to North and South America, a new genetic analysis of living Native Americans suggests.
- Plants
So Sproutish: Anti-aging gene for plants gives drought protection
A gene that can hold off the decrepitude of old age in plants offers an unusual approach to protecting crops from drought.
- Health & Medicine
Calculated Risk: Shedding light on fracture hazards in elderly
Diminished bone density in elderly people contributes to fractures following traumatic accidents.
- Earth
Falling Behind: North American terrain absorbs carbon dioxide too slowly
North America's vegetation soaks up millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, an impressive rate of sequestration that still can't keep up with the prodigious emissions of the planet-warming gas generated by human activity on the continent.
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Base Load: Currents add detail to DNA structure
The first precise measurements of DNA's sideways conductivity confirm its similarities with semiconductors.
- Earth
Folding with a little help from friends
By slowly unraveling a protein, scientists have shown how other proteins called chaperones influence protein folding.
- Earth
Hey, What about Us?
The plight of polar bears may get most of the attention as climate change disrupts the Arctic ice, but plenty of other species, from walrus and seals to one-celled specks, are also going to see their world change radically.
- Archaeology
Rolling Back the Years
Scientists are refining carbon dating techniques to make the archaeological timeline more precise.
- Humans
Letters from the December 1, 2007, issue of Science News
Bed nets and insecticides Kenyan researchers report that insecticide-treated bed nets can reduce malaria-related deaths in children (“Keep Out: Treated mosquito nets limit child deaths,” SN: 9/29/07, p. 195). While these nets appear to provide preventive measures against malaria, my only concern is the toxicity of the insecticides. The World Health Organization lists two of […]
