More Stories from the June 3, 2000 issue
- Earth
Future Looks Cloudy for Arctic Ozone
Clouds that drive ozone loss in the Antarctic turned up in force during the most recent Arctic winter.
- Physics
Quantum quirks quicken thorny searches
A researcher has come up with a quantum algorithm for identifying one or more items in a large, unsorted database when complete information about the search target is unavailable.
- Astronomy
New sky map: Look, Ma, no Milky Way!
Using a radio telescope to record emissions from hydrogen gas, astronomers have penetrated the murk of the Milky Way to map the entire southern sky.
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Gene therapy grows bone in mice and rats
A new gene therapy tested in rodents regrows bone by transforming skin and gum cells into bone-making cells or into cells that mass-produce a molecule called bone morphogenetic protein-7, which induces bone growth.
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Viruses that slay bacteria draw new interest
Bacteriophages, viruses that kill bacteria, may be able to cure seafood poisoning, decontaminate poultry, and tackle anthrax.
- Earth
Dioxin cuts the chance of fathering a boy
More girls than boys are fathered by men who sustained a relatively high environmental exposure to dioxin from a 1976 factory explosion in Italy.
- Physics
Spectrum deftly takes visible light’s pulse
A rainbow path to more precise measurements of visible-light frequencies may become an express lane to unprecedented accuracy in everyday measurements for all the sciences.
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Religious commitment linked to longer life
A statistical analysis of 42 studies revealed that people who report heavy involvement in religious activities tend to have better physical health and live longer than those who don't.
- Astronomy
A supernova’s shocking development
Astronomers have for the first time recorded the full force of the shock wave hurled from supernova 1987A, the brightest stellar explosion witnessed from Earth since the invention of the modern telescope.
- Astronomy
More evidence of a flat universe
Another balloon-borne experiment recording relic radiation from the Big Bang has found evidence that the universe is flat.
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RNA and DNA help cells switch class
Immune cells may tailor their genetic blueprint for antibodies through unusual RNA-DNA structures.
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Molecule sparks origin-of-life debate
The first genetic material may have been a molecule called peptide nucleic acid, or PNA.
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Pen-shaped device purifies water
A battery-powered instrument the size and shape of a pen can quickly disinfect contaminated drinking water.
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Bacteria give carpet a nasty smell
A compound produced by bacteria may be responsible for the "cat urine" smell of some new carpeting.
- Chemistry
Protein’s structure lights the way
Forty years after the discovery of aequorin in a jellyfish, the structure of this calcium-tracking, glowing protein is resolved.
- Chemistry
Clearing the air on dirty art
Air-pollution damage to artworks may accumulate more stealthily than conservationists thought, suggesting that art exhibitors need to step up protection against such damage.
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Code Breakers
Scientists are altering bacteria in a most fundamental way.
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