More Stories from the December 3, 2011 issue
- Life
Gut bacteria linked to MS
Gut bacteria appear to play a role in initiating multiple sclerosis in mice.
- Life
Cause confirmed in bat scourge
White-nose syndrome has devastated bat population in eastern North America.
- Space
Chronicles of Lutetia
The surprising composition and terrain of an asteroid may provide a variety of lessons about the solar system.
- Life
Python’s heart-restoring elixir works in mice
A chemical brew used by snakes to build cardiac muscle could have medical applications.
- Life
Axing molecular zombies may slow aging
Killing off dormant cells slows the decline of mice genetically engineered to grow old fast.
- Space
Mars’ history is a fluid situation
Recent data from two spacecraft suggest the planet was mostly dry and cold, with a wet, warm subsurface.
- Psychology
‘Gorilla man’ goes unheard
Paying attention to what others say can make listeners totally unaware of unexpected sounds.
- Psychology
Skateboarders rock physics
Skateboarding develops intuition about slope speeds unavailable to most people.
- Life
Giant beavers had hidden vocal talents
With air passageways in its skull like no other animal known, an extinct outsized rodent may have made sound all its own.
- Paleontology
DNA suggests North American mammoth species interbred
Supposedly separate types may really have been one.
- Health & Medicine
Sleep doesn’t help old folks remember
Reduced quality of slumber with age erases memory benefits of snoozing.
- Health & Medicine
Exceptional memory linked to bulked-up parts of brain
People with total recall of their life’s events have enlargement in a region also associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Health & Medicine
Highlights from the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
Stress and motherhood, tandem MRIs, the memory benefits of resveratrol and more from the organization's meeting November 12-16 in Washington, D.C.
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SN Online
LIFE Schooling fish stay together by focusing on neighbors rather than the group. See “School rules.” Gustavo Hormiga Spiders known for their web architecture can trace their lineage to one crafty ancestor that lived 200 million years ago. See “The origin of orbs.” BODY & BRAIN Scientists have pinpointed what makes hearing nails on a […]
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Science Future for December 3, 2011
December 5 Discuss scientist Ellen Prager’s book Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime in Portland. Go to www.omsi.edu/sciencepubportland December 15 Explore the Maryland Science Center with baby at Infant Wonders. See www.mdsci.org December 17–23 Learn more about trains at the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio. See www.cosi.org
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Science Past from the issue of December 2, 1961
ELECTRONIC COIN TOSSING — An electronic method of tossing coins that determines “heads” or “tails” 200,000 times a second has been devised at the U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory, San Diego, Calif. The new machine is not a gambling device but is being used to develop automatic signal detection methods for future Navy radar. It promises […]
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The First Scientist: Anaximander and His Legacy by Carlo Rovelli
A physicist introduces Anaximander, who in the sixth century B.C. paved the way for astronomy, physics, geography, meteorology and biology. Westholme Publishing, 2011, 209 p., $24.95
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Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms by Eugenia Bone
A mouthwatering love letter to fungi from a food writer explores mushrooms as culinary delicacies, biofuels, hallucinogens and more. Rodale Books, 2011, 384 p., $25.99
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Models.Behaving.Badly: Why Confusing Illusion with Reality Can Lead to Disaster, on Wall Street and in Life by Emanuel Derman
A physicist and Wall Street strategist examines why people rely on models, economic or otherwise — and why that can be a bad idea. Free Press, 2011,231 p., $26
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Relics: Travels in Nature’s Time Machine by Piotr Naskrecki
Explore the world of modern species with ancient lineages in this collection of striking photographs. Univ. of Chicago Press, 2011, 342 p., $45
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BOOK REVIEW: Inflight Science: A Guide to the World from Your Airplane Window by Brian Clegg
Review by Sid Perkins.
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Caterpillars by Marilyn Singer
A colorful look at caterpillars — sometimes woolly, sometimes spotted, occasionally sporting fake faces — shows how they transform into delicate, winged insects. EarlyLight Books, 2011, 40 p., $14.95, ages 4–7
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Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun: 22 Super-Charged Projects for Kids by Michael J. Caduto
Do try these at home: Writing with the sun, powering a battery with a bicycle and creating mini-windmills are projects that help kids learn about renewable energy. Storey Publishing, 2011, 223 p., $16.95, ages 8–13
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What’s So Hot About Volcanoes (What’s So Cool About Geology) by Wendell A. Duffield
A volcanologist transports readers to Hawaii, Chile and Japan to show how volcanoes form, why they erupt and how scientists are trying to predict eruptions. Mountain Press, 2011, 89 p., $16, young adult
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You Just Can’t Help It!: Your Guide to the Wild and Wacky World of Human Behavior by Jeff Szpirglas
A teacher gives insight into human behavior by explaining the science behind involuntary reactions such as wrinkling the nose at a disgusting smell or laughing. Maple Tree, 2011, 64 p., $10.95, ages 9–12
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Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure #2: Mars! by Hena Khan and David Borgenicht
Kids must use their science know-how to navigate a mission to Mars in this choose-your-adventure book, picking up facts about space along the way. Chronicle Books, 2011, 204 p., $12.99, ages 8–12
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Eye-Popping 3-D Bugs: Phantogram Bugs You Can Practically Touch! by Barry Rothstein and Betsy Rothstein
Scientific facts about creepy crawlies boost this book’s real thrill —the phantogram images that make beetles, wasps and spiders pop off the page. Chronicle Books, 2011, 61 p., $19.99, ages 3 and up
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Digging for Troy: From Homer to Hisarlik by Jill Rubalcaba and Eric H. Cline
What starts off as a retelling of the epic tale of the Odyssey turns into a story about archaeologists’ hunt for Homer’s Troy in modern-day Turkey. Charlesbridge, 2011, 71 p., $17.95, ages 9–12
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Come See the Earth Turn by Lori Mortensen
Learn how Léon Foucault, a sickly child and poor student, grew up to design a simple experiment that demonstrated for the first time that the Earth rotates. Random House, 2010, 32 p., $17.99, ages 7–9
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Stuff That Scares Your Pants Off!: The Science Scoop on more than 30 Terrifying Phenomena! by Glenn Murphy
Statistics and scientific facts reassure kids that scary things —whether they be spiders, the dark or aliens — aren’t such a threat after all. Roaring Brook Press, 2011, 192 p., $14.99, ages 8–12
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New Takes on Historic Quakes
Two centuries on, scientists revisit the magnitudes of New Madrid’s biggest rumbles.
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Venus Unveiled
Spacecraft finds Earthy features on sister planet.
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Letters
Clocking neutrinos In response to “Hints of a flaw in special relativity” (SN: 10/22/11, p. 18): When supernova 1987a was detected in the Large Magellenic Cloud (a distance of roughly 168,000 light-years) an influx of neutrinos was detected simultaneously (or nearly so) in Japan, the United States and Russia. Had these neutrinos traveled at the […]
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Nemesis: Searching for the sun’s deadly companion star
Read the full article (PDF) | Vote on future topic | Search archives September 1, 1984 | Vol. 126 | No. 9 Nemesis: Searching for the sun’s deadly companion star If the sun is not a member of a binary or multiple star system, it is among the minority of stars. Yet if the sun has a […]
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A Strange Wilderness: The Lives of the Great Mathematicians
Learn about mathematicians from Archimedes to Alexander Grothendieck, who learned math in a Nazi concentration camp. Sterling, 2011, 284 p., $24.95
