More Stories from the December 6, 2003 issue
- Health & Medicine
Two markers may predict heart risk
Two proteins that play a role in inflammation may serve as indicators of a person's risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Planetary Science
Martian sand ripples are taller than Earth’s
New data gathered by a Mars-orbiting probe suggest that large ripples found in sandy areas of the Red Planet are more than twice as tall as their terrestrial counterparts.
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Plants, bats magnify neurotoxin in Guam
Researchers have found that the natural neurotoxin BMAA gets magnified as it rises through a food chain on Guam, a finding that strengthens a recent hypothesis that attempts to explain a spike in neurological disease on that island.
- Humans
Nanotech bill gives field a boost
Congress has approved a nanotechnology act that commits $3.7 billion in funding over 4 years and calls for research on the societal, environmental, and ethical implications of this rapidly growing field.
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- Health & Medicine
No Scope: CT scan works as well as colonoscopy
A computed tomography scan of the large intestine works as well as colonoscopy in detecting signs of colon cancer.
- Astronomy
Solar Flip-Flops: Sun storms spawn magnetic reversal
Coronal mass ejections, billion-ton clouds of charged particles blasted from the sun, appear to play a key role in reversing the sun's magnetic poles every 11 years.
- Earth
Cloud Chemistry: Atmospheric scientists dissect cirrus clouds
Cirrus cloud formation is influenced by the particles in the atmosphere, including pollutants.
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Seek and Destroy: Virus attacks cancer, spares normal cells
A virus carried by mosquitoes naturally homes in on cancer cells and destroys them.
- Paleontology
Proud paleontologists proclaim: It’s a boy!
Marine sediments deposited about 425 million years ago have yielded what scientists contend is the world’s oldest undoubtedly male fossil.
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Allies in Therapy: Depression fix feeds off patient-therapist bond
Psychotherapy's ability to quell symptoms of depression may depend more on the therapeutic alliance, a measure of the bond between patient and therapist, than on any specific techniques wielded by the therapist.
- Physics
Doppler Toppler: Experiment upends normal frequency shift
The expected drop in frequency of a signal from a receding source—the Doppler effect—becomes a frequency increase when a high-current electric pulse creates extraordinary electromagnetic conditions in a web of electrical components.
- Ecosystems
New Farmers: Salt marsh snails plow leaves, fertilize fungus
A salt marsh snail works the leaves of a plant in what researchers say looks like a simple form of farming.
- Tech
Wings of Change
Inspired by the Wright brothers, who steered their first flyer by twisting its pliant wings, engineers are developing versatile and flexible flying machines expected to undergo radical shape changes in flight.
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Tiny Bubbles
Microscopic vesicles shed by cells may help the AIDS virus, benefit cancer cells, and drive the immune response.
