More Stories from the February 11, 2006 issue
- Animals
Hawk skin sends UV signal
The patch of skin above a hawk's beak looks orange-yellow to us, but to another hawk, it may broadcast ultraviolet sex appeal.
- Health & Medicine
Newborn head size linked to cancer risk
Healthy newborns with big heads face an increased risk of brain cancer.
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Depression’s rebirth in pregnant women
Expectant mothers who temporarily stop taking their antidepressant medication stand a good chance of sinking back into depression while pregnant.
- Earth
Prions’ dirty little secret
The malformed proteins responsible for mad cow disease bind tightly to clay, a finding that points to farm soil as a potential long-term reservoir for these infective agents.
- Tech
Virus has the Midas touch
Researchers have recruited a stringlike virus to carry nanoscale loads of gold that could serve as imaging agents in cancer diagnosis.
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Finding a face place in monkeys’ brains
Monkeys recognize a wide variety of faces thanks to a brain area that specializes in face perception.
- Health & Medicine
Mouth cancer data faked, journal says
A study by a Norwegian researcher claiming that anti-inflammatory drugs reduce the risk of mouth cancer in smokers was based on faked data.
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Chimps creep closer yet
Humans evolved most slowly of all primates, with chimps a close second.
- Paleontology
Ancestor of Kings: Early progenitor of T. rex had a crest
Paleontologists have unearthed remains of the oldest known dinosaur of the tyrannosaur clan.
- Tech
Beyond Bar Codes: Tuning up plastic radio labels
Electronic labels made from plastic semiconductors can now pick up and respond to radio signals at a frequency suitable for use on products.
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Combat Trauma from the Past: Data portray Civil War’s mental, physical fallout
A new analysis of 19th-century medical records indicates that U.S. Civil War soldiers who experienced considerable combat trauma but survived the war developed more than their share of mental and physical ailments later in life.
- Animals
Males as Nannies? First test for wasps’ hidden baby-care skills
Young male wasps, in the absence of females, can care for larvae.
- Health & Medicine
Low-Fat Diet Falls Short: It’s not enough to stop cancers, heart disease
Reducing fat consumption after menopause offers women little if any protection against breast cancer, colorectal cancer, or heart disease, according to reports from a massive, 8-year trial.
- Astronomy
Found: A missing hot halo
Astronomers have for the first time found a halo of hot inflowing gas around a massive, spiral galaxy, a likely leftover from the galaxy's formation.
- Humans
Changing Priorities: Bush initiative shifts science-budget funds
President Bush's proposed fiscal year 2007 budget would keep overall research and development spending at approximately current levels.
- Astronomy
Blasts from the Past
Gamma-ray bursts may soon surpass quasars and galaxies as the most distant known objects in the universe and are likely to provide a new window on the early universe.
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Self-Serve Brains
New brain-imaging studies and investigations of certain types of brain damage suggest that the right hemisphere typically coordinates one's sense of being a self, with a body and a set of life experiences distinct from those of other people.
- Humans
Letters from the February 11, 2006, issue of Science News
Preventive measure? Regarding “Rare but Fatal Outcome: Four deaths may trace to abortion pill” (SN: 12/3/05, p. 358), would it be possible for an antibiotic to be included with the RU-486 package to prevent a Clostridium sordellii infection? Like millions of other people, I have to take an antibiotic prior to dental procedures to prevent […]
