More Stories from the January 30, 2010 issue
- Life
Cancer plaguing Tasmanian devils began in one animal’s nerve cells
Genetics provide a starting point for diagnosis and potential vaccines.
- Space
New-found galaxies may be farthest back in time and space yet
Potential finding uses data that push limits of current technology.
- Space
Kepler space telescope finds its first extrasolar planets
The NASA mission uncovers one Neptune-like and four Jupiter-like bodies.
- Space
Plenty of black holes do-si-do
Team finds 33 merging galaxies with 'waltzing' black-hole pairs, suggesting the phenomenon is more common than thought.
- Earth
Footprints could push back tetrapod origins
Newly discovered trackways much older than previous evidence for sea-to-land transition.
- Health & Medicine
New test could discern serious condition early after bone marrow transplant
Protein level in blood reveals graft-versus-host disease, may indicate severity of this complication
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- Life
Bornavirus genes found in human DNA
Researchers have found molecular fossils of an RNA virus in human and other mammalian genomes, pushing back the emergence of RNA viruses millions of years.
- Space
Gamma-ray burst may reveal some of oldest dust in the universe
Remote flash may have uncovered supernova-generated dust from just 1 billion years after the Big Bang
- Physics
Symmetry found hidden in supercold atoms
Scientists have detected an elusive, complex symmetry in the frequencies of resonating particles
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- Archaeology
Ancient hominids may have been seafarers
Researchers have discovered hundreds of African-style stone hand axes on Crete, suggesting that sea-going hominids reached the island hundreds of thousands of years ago en route to Europe.
- Health & Medicine
Skip spine stabilization and get to the hospital
Gunshot victims may be more likely to survive if they get to the hospital quickly instead of getting spine stabilization first.
- Humans
Copenhagen climate summit yields ‘real deal’ to limit greenhouse gases
Nonbinding accord still needs beefing up, negotiators agree.
- Humans
Graffiti on the walls in Pompeii
News from the Archaeological Institute of America's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif.
- Humans
Zeus’ altar of ashes
News from the Archaeological Institute of America's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif.
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Science Future by January 30, 2010
February 20–21 Free science discussion sessions and demos are open to the public at the AAAS annual meeting in San Diego. See www.aaas.org/meetings/2010 February 24–26 The International Stroke Conference 2010 is held in San Antonio. See strokeconference.org March 31 New nomination deadline for the 2010 National Medal of Science. Get forms at www.nsf.gov/od/nms/medal.jsp
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Laboratory Disease: Robert Koch’s Medical Bacteriology by Christoph Gradmann and Elborg Forster, translator
A science historian examines the origins of the field of medical bacteriology and the life of one of its founders. Laboratory Disease: Robert Koch’s Medical Bacteriology by Christoph Gradmann and Elborg Forster, translator Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009, 318 p., $35.
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Understanding Solid State Physics by Sharon Ann Holgate
The authors explain basic physics principles with undergraduates in mind. UNDERSTANDING SOLID STATE PHYSICS BY SHARON ANN HOLGATE CRC Press, 2010, 349 p., $79.95.
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The Nature Study Movement by Kevin C. Armitage
A scholar describes the amateur naturalists of the late 19th century and their influence on modern environmentalism. THE NATURE STUDY MOVEMENT BY KEVIN C. ARMITAGE University Press of Kansas, 2009, 291 p., $34.95.
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Turtles: The Animal Answer Guide by Whit Gibbons and Judy Greene
Turtle experts address 100 or so of the most common questions about these reptiles. TURTLES: THE ANIMAL ANSWER GUIDE BY WHIT GIBBONS AND JUDY GREENE Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009, 163 p., $24.95.
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Book Review: Communicating Science: Professional, Popular, Literary by Nicholas Russell
Review by Rachel Zelkowitz.
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Book Review: The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved & Why It Endures by Nicholas Wade
Review by Bruce Bower.
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Energy, safety and nuclear capabilities intertwined
On January 1, Charles D. Ferguson became president of the Federation of American Scientists, a nongovernmental organization founded in 1945 by Manhattan Project scientists to promote humanitarian uses of science and technology. Ferguson worked at FAS 10 years ago as director of its nuclear policy project, and he returns after working from 2004 to 2009 […]
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Let there be light
New technology illuminates neuronal conversations in the brain
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Dressing up dinos
Adding soft tissue to bone helps scientists, paleoartists bring ancient creatures to life.
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The final chemistry frontier
Molecules of the interstellar medium must break the rules to make the stuff of space.
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Letters
Thinking animals An interesting article, but the question of human consciousness seems no closer to solution in “Humans wonder, anybody home?” by Susan Gaidos (SN: 12/19/09, p. 22) than it did in Julian Jaynes’ The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind of 1976. It seems to me that all the mental […]
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Science Past from the issue of January 30, 1960
SAFE SEASONINGS NAMED — Some 150 seasonings and flavorings — ranging from the familiar cinnamon to exotic “ylang-ylang” — have been put on the safe list, the Food and Drug Administration has announced. Manufacturers who use these flavors in their food products need not furnish further proof of their safety. The list includes cloves, nutmeg, […]
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Write an Effective Funding Application: A Guide for Researchers & Scholars by Mary W. Walters
A step-by-step guide to creating successful funding proposals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009, 151 p., $22. WRITE AN EFFECTIVE FUNDING APPLICATION: A GUIDE FOR RESEARCHERS & SCHOLARS BY MARY W. WALTERS
