More Stories from the February 19, 2005 issue
- Planetary Science
Meteorite on Mars
One of the twin rovers on Mars has discovered the first meteorite ever found on a planet other than Earth.
- Earth
Subway air does extra damage
Airborne particles in subterranean transit stations may be more damaging to human cells than are particles from street-level air.
- Humans
High costs of CT screening
Whole-body computed tomography scans for asymptomatic disease do not appear cost-effective at this time.
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Lefties, righties take neural sides in perceiving parts
A brain-imaging study indicates that right-handers and left-handers use different, corresponding neural regions to perceive parts of an object while ignoring the larger entity.
- Health & Medicine
Vampire spit gives strokes a licking
A drug derived from a component of vampire bat saliva can clear blood clots in the brains of people who have had strokes.
- Health & Medicine
High salt intake hikes stroke risk
People who consume a lot of salt are nearly twice as likely to have a stroke as are people who consume less salt, even when their blood pressures are equivalent.
- Health & Medicine
Stroke patients show dearth of vitamin D
People recovering from a stroke have less vitamin D in their systems than do healthy peers, which could explain why stroke patients often have low bone density and risk breaking bones.
- Health & Medicine
Southern blacks face excess risk of stroke
Blacks living in southern U.S. states have a greater risk of dying of stroke than do blacks living in northern states.
- Chemistry
Molecular surgery traps hydrogen inside carbon cage
In a feat of precision chemistry, scientists have locked a pair of hydrogen atoms inside a soccer ball–shaped carbon molecule known as a buckyball.
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Hearing Repaired: Gene therapy restores guinea pigs’ hearing
By turning on a gene that's normally active only during embryonic development, researchers have restored hearing in deaf guinea pigs.
- Earth
Sky High: Gamma-ray bursts are common in Earth’s upper atmosphere
Enigmatic bursts of high-energy gamma rays produced Earth's atmosphere are stronger and more frequent than previously thought.
- Archaeology
In the Buff: Stone Age tools may have derived luster from diamond
Ancient Chinese people may have used diamonds to polish their stone axes to mirrorlike finishes.
- Planetary Science
Spying Saturn’s Light Show: Anomalous aurora dazzles scientists
The dancing lights that paint Saturn's sky stands out from all other auroras observed in the solar system.
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Math minus Grammar: Number skills survive language losses
Three men who suffered left brain damage that undermined their capacity to speak and understand language still possessed a firm grip of mathematics.
- Animals
Hour of Babble: Young birds sing badly in the morning
Young zebra finches do badly at song practice for the first few hours after they wake up but then recover, and even improve, their musical skills.
- Health & Medicine
Healing Gone Haywire: Wound-repair genes signal cancer spread
An experimental test predicts which breast tumors will spread rapidly without treatment and which are likely to be less aggressive by tracking the activity of genes normally involved in mending injured tissue.
- Health & Medicine
Against the Migraine
Migraines may be among the problems that stem from a common but rarely diagnosed heart defect, and researchers have discovered that repairing the defect cures some of the headaches.
- Astronomy
Images from the Edge
Examining nearby reaches of the universe at ultraviolet wavelengths, a recently launched spacecraft has found regions of star birth in unexpected places.
- Humans
Letters from the February 19, 2005, issue of Science News
Negative thinking The article “Sweet Glow: Nanotube sensor brightens path to glucose detection” (SN: 1/1/05, p. 3) mentions “ferricyanide, an electron-hungry molecule.” This puzzled me no end. Aren’t ferricyanide molecules, unlike their ions, electrically neutral? I’m trying to visualize ravenous molecules gobbling up innocent electrons. Ernest NussbaumBethesda, Md. Ferricyanide is indeed an ion, with a […]
