More Stories from the December 22, 2001 issue
- Humans
Weekly Science Snoop
WARNING: This fake tabloid contains rumor, humor, and other words that don't rhyme with truth.
- Astronomy
Did Space Rocks Deliver Sugar?
Planetary scientists have for the first time detected sugar compounds in meteorites, bolstering the view that space rocks seeded the early Earth with ingredients essential for the development of life.
- Health & Medicine
Mice reveal the off switch for inflammation
Working with genetically engineered mice, scientists have identified a crucial natural mechanism that rodents use to shut down inflammation before it does harm.
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Astronauts’ sleep may get lost in space
Two new studies indicate that astronauts experience changes in the body's circadian pacemaker that are associated with sleep problems.
- Earth
Forest-soil fungi emit gases that harm ozone layer
Laboratory tests reveal for the first time that certain types of common fungi can produce ozone-destroying methyl halide gases.
- Animals
Unknown squids—with elbows—tease science
Glimpses from around the world suggest that the ocean depths hold novel, long-armed squids that belong in no known family.
- Health & Medicine
Weak appetite in elderly ties to hormone
A hormone known to suppress appetite is more abundant in seniors than in young adults and has a greater effect in squelching hunger in elderly people.
- Health & Medicine
Ultrasound boosts drug delivery to tumors
A beam of ultrasound can make the blood vessels that infiltrate cancerous growths leakier than normal.
- Health & Medicine
Sometimes lying down is harder work
Squatting or standing might ease baby delivery by allowing the birth canal more room to expand.
- Astronomy
A night of shooting stars
Thousands of people in North America who got up early on Nov. 18 were treated to a memorable sky show: White, yellow, blue, and green fireballs, some leaving behind smoke trails, streaked across the sky.
- Astronomy
Observing the sun’s magnetic pull
A spacecraft studying the sun has spotted clouds of gas that seem to be headed the wrong way, falling back toward the solar surface instead of continuing to move outward with the stream of charged particles known as the solar wind.
- Astronomy
Galileo catches Io in a slump
Galileo spacecraft images show for the first time that material has slid downward along a cliff on Jupiter's moon Io.
- Materials Science
Carbon nanotubes turn on water flow
Computer simulations show that water molecules will quicklye nter and flow along a carbon nanotube just 8 nanometers in diameter.
- Materials Science
Can ancient stone avoid salt attacks?
Researchers have found that a polymer coating can protect stone from damage caused by growing crystals.
- Tech
Many-armed magnets reveal stem cells
Novel particles that combine magnetic crystals and many-branched polymers may permit doctors to track stem cells in people by using standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners.
- Tech
Engineered crystal obeys inner bananas
Flexing new skills at custom-designing crystals, researchers built a specific optical trait into a new organic crystal by tinkering with the shape of one of the crystal's constituent molecules.
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- Math
Polyhedron Man
Mathematician and artist George Hart has created a variety of sculptures based on polyhedra and collaborated with other researchers to define and visualize new geometric shapes.
- Astronomy
Journey through the Universe
A new permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum traces the development of tools used to study the heavens and how they have changed our understanding of the universe.
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Science News of the Year 2001
A review of important scientific achievements reported in Science News during the year 2001.
