More Stories from the January 15, 2005 issue
- Earth
Seismic vibes gauge Earth’s crust
New seismic observations are adding to scientists' knowledge of the thickness of Earth's crust, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Earth
Big quakes can free grounded icebergs
Data gathered by equipment installed on an immense iceberg off Antarctica suggest that the ground motions spawned by large, distant earthquakes can free such bergs to float again.
- Earth
Landscaping stones may pose risks to the environment
Chemical analyses suggest that planting ornamental rock gardens in some cases may not be doing the environment any favors.
- Earth
Really hot water
Hot-water tanks can accumulate radioactive deposits from naturally occurring radioactive material.
- Animals
Sparrows learn song from pieces
Young white-crowned sparrows don't have to hear a song straight through in order to learn it; playing the song in mixed-up paired phrases will do.
- Health & Medicine
Antibiotics could save nerves
Penicillin and its family of related antibiotics may prevent the type of nerve damage that occurs in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other diseases.
- Astronomy
Ultimate Retro: Modern echoes of the early universe
Two teams of astronomers have for the first time detected the surviving notes of a cosmic symphony created just after the Big Bang, when the universe was a foggy soup of matter and radiation.
- Math
When Laziness Pays: Math explains how cooperation and cheating evolve
Researchers have developed a mathematical model that helps explain how cooperation and cheating evolve among simple organisms.
- Paleontology
Reptilian Repast: Ancient mammals preyed on young dinosaurs
Two nearly complete sets of fossilized remains from 130-million-year-old rocks are revealing fresh details about the size and dietary habits of ancient mammals, hinting that some of these creatures were large enough to feast on small dinosaurs.
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Hands-on Math Insights: Teachers’ mismatched gestures boost learning
As teachers instruct a child, they typically use their hands as well as their voices, but only certain gestures pack a powerful educational punch.
- Health & Medicine
Not to Your Health: New mechanism proposed for alcohol-related tumors
New findings suggest that alcohol encourages blood vessels to invade tumors, supplying nutrients that promote tumor growth.
- Earth
Living in a Fog: Secondhand smoke may dull kids’ wits
Millions of U.S. children may have reading deficits because of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.
- Animals
Crow Tools: Hatched to putter
The New Caledonian crow is the first vertebrate to be shown definitively to have an innate tendency to make and use tools, according to researchers who doubled as bird nannies.
- Health & Medicine
Phage Attack: Antibacterial virus might suppress cholera
Bacteria-attacking viruses that infect bacteria hold cholera bacteria in check throughout most of the year except during the rainy season when these viruses become diluted.
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Proteins in the Stretch
Scientists are for the first time getting a feel for how proteins fold and unfold.
- Health & Medicine
Palm-Nut Problem
The ancient custom of chewing areca nuts is getting more popular as young Asians take up the habit, but betel-nut chewing has been linked to several types of oral cancer.
- Humans
Letters from the January 15, 2005, issue of Science News
Maybe a smoky card game I’m a veterinarian, and, here in west Texas, we see a high occurrence of parvovirus infection in young dogs. It destroys the intestinal villi, allowing gastrointestinal bacteria and their toxins to enter the bloodstream (“Nicotine’s Good Side: Substance curbs sepsis in mice,” SN: 11/6/04, p. 291). I would be very […]
