More Stories from the July 31, 2010 issue
- Earth
Moby Dick meets Jaws
A recently discovered fossil demonstrates that giant whales weren’t always as gentle as they are today.
- Earth
African fossils suggest complex life arose early
Researchers find evidence that Earth’s earliest multicellular life got going 2.1 billion years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Stem cells from blood a ‘huge’ milestone
New technique promises to be easier, cheaper and faster than other harvesting methods.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine for Marburg virus passes monkey test
Tests suggest that the lethal hemorrhagic virus can be stopped if countered soon after exposure.
- Climate
Methane releases in arctic seas could wreak devastation
Warming climate could lead to dead zones, acidification and shifts at the base of the ocean’s food chain.
- Life
Saber-toothed cats strong-armed prey
Smilodon fatalis used strong forelimbs to pin victims, an analysis of fossils shows.
- Humans
Botox injections put a crease in emotional evaluations
By immobilizing a muscle needed for frowning, Botox injections may interfere with a person’s ability to assess others’ emotions.
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- Computing
Machine versus manhole
Computer scientists take on one of New York’s weirder quality-of-life issues: which will be the next to explode?
- Health & Medicine
Protein regulator shows promise against addiction
Elevating levels of a tiny molecule in rats’ brains blunted the animals’ cocaine use.
- Psychology
Ancient hominids grabbed early northern exposure
Newly recovered stone tools indicate that hominids lived in chilly northwestern Europe more than 800,000 years ago.
- Earth
Africa’s bumper crop of dust
Seafloor sediments show that agriculture has greatly boosted airborne dust in the last two centuries.
- Space
The incredible shrinking proton
If the subatomic particle really is smaller than thought, a cherished theory may need tweaking.
- Health & Medicine
Fish oil may fight breast cancer
Other popular dietary supplements fail to show protection, a large study shows.
- Physics
Taming turbulence from afar
New research shows that measurements of smooth fluid motion away from an object can be used to characterize the roiling flow right up next to it.
- Health & Medicine
Newly discovered antibodies may boost AIDS vaccine research
Inducing production of these potent HIV neutralizers will pose a challenge.
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Science Future for July 31, 2010
August 14 – 17The American Sociological Association meets in Atlanta. See www.asanet.org/meetings August 30 – September 3Researchers and policy makers meet in Boston to discuss environmental factors affecting penguin population health. See www.penguinconference.org September 1A psychologist lectures in New York City on the connection between beauty and happiness. See www.nyas.org/events
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Professor Stewart’s Hoard of Mathematical Treasures by Ian Stewart
The math professor returns with more brain teasers, puzzles and facts designed to reveal the fun side of the subject. PROFESSOR STEWART’S HOARD OF MATHEMATICAL TREASURES BY IAN STEWART Basic Books, 2010, 339 p., $16.95.
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Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar
The story of quantum mechanics and the decades-long argument about how to interpret it. QUANTUM: EINSTEIN, BOHR, AND THE GREAT DEBATE ABOUT THE NATURE OF REALITY BY MANJIT KUMAR W.W. Norton & Co., 2010, 448 p., $27.95.
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Dogs: Domestication and the Development of a Social Bond by Darcy F. Morey
An anthropologist describes the evolution of the dog and explores how this creature became man’s best friend. DOGS: DOMESTICATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIAL BOND BY DARCY F. MOREY Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010, 356 p., $45.
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Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell
Kids can learn about this special set of numbers from color nature photos. GROWING PATTERNS: FIBONACCI NUMBERS IN NATURE BY SARAH C. CAMPBELL Boyds Mill Press, 2010, 32 p., $17.95.
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Book Review: Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience by Stephen S. Hall
Review by Rachel Zelkowitz.
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Book Review: Voyager: Seeking Newer Worlds in the Third Great Age of Discovery by Stephen J. Pyne
Review by Alexandra Witze.
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A university strives for the high road to sustainability
Many universities are trying to bring sustainability to campus through measures such as serving organic food in dining halls, using carbon-neutral power sources and constructing buildings that qualify for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Yet some institutions have expressed concern that some of these efforts […]
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Beneath that blazing facade
Researchers revamp ideas about what’s in the sun.
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Nature’s recourse
How plants and animals fight back when deals go sour.
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The incredible shrinking solar cell
With lilliputian collectors, almost anything could be sun-powered.
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Letters
A placebo’s true nature There is a serious misconception put forth in the letter from William Davis (Feedback, SN: 5/22/10, p. 31). The placebos used for placebo-controlled, double-blind studies of pharmaceuticals are not “sugar pills.” These placebos are made from the same inactive ingredients in the same proportions used to make the dosage form containing […]
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Science Past from the issue of July 30, 1960
LIP-SMACKING GRASSHOPPER — A grasshopper with a talent for lip-smacking has turned out to be quite an unusual insect. Paratylotropidia brunneri Scudder is the first insect known to communicate over fairly long distances by producing an audible sound from the mouth — literally smacking its lips…. Produced at the rate of six or seven per […]
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Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do by Albert-László Barabási
Mining digital data reveals patterns in seemingly spontaneous human behavior. BURSTS: THE HIDDEN PATTERN BEHIND EVERYTHING WE DO BY ALBERT-LáSZLó BARABáSI Dutton, 2010, 310 p., $26.95.
