More Stories from the March 15, 2008 issue
- Physics
Too speedy for gravity?
A new analysis suggests that five different spacecraft gained more speed as they flew past Earth than can be accounted for by Einstein's theory of gravitation.
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Altruistic twist in market economies
Democratic societies with market economies promote a moral ethic of cooperating with strangers who demand mutual sacrifices in joint ventures.
- Materials Science
Cellulose that stiffens and softens
A material inspired by sea cucumbers morphs from rigid to soft.
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Pick a photo, any photo
An fMRI scan of the brain can tell what photograph a subject is looking at.
- Health & Medicine
Exercises counteract lazy eye
Amblyopia, or lazy eye, can be reversed in adults with visual task exercises.
- Health & Medicine
New technique brings Parkinson’s treatment closer
An efficient technique to make dopamine-producing nerve cells from human embryonic stem cells could mark a step toward devising therapies for Parkinson's disease.
- Plants
City life changes style of weed seeds
City living pushes for rapid evolution in the seed strategy of a little yellow flower along French sidewalks.
- Astronomy
State of the Universe: Microwave glow powers cosmic insights
Radiation left over from the Big Bang offers researchers unprecedented cosmic understanding.
- Health & Medicine
Roll Up Your Sleeve: Hypertension vaccine passes early test
An angiotensin vaccine stifles high blood pressure in an early test in people.
- Earth
Weather maker
The North Atlantic's Gulf Stream affects the overlying atmosphere more strongly than previously suspected.
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Common Age: Worms, yeast, and people share genes for aging
Roundworms, yeast, and humans share more than a dozen genes linked to aging.
- Animals
Gator Aids: Gators squish lungs around to dive and roll
Alligator researchers say they have discovered a new role for lungs as maneuvering aids under water.
- Anthropology
Small Wonders: Tiny islanders elevate ‘hobbit’ debate
The discovery in two South Pacific caves of bones from an extinct group of half-size humans has fueled the already heated scientific debate over the evolutionary identity of so-called hobbit remains from Indonesia.
- Health & Medicine
Dual Role: Painkiller may affect brain
A class of drugs being developed to block pain could obstruct memory formation as well.
- Humans
Tomorrow’s Stars: Intel Science Talent Search honors high achievers
The Intel Science Talent Search announced its winners at a gala dinner honoring the competition's 40 finalists.
- Health & Medicine
Beyond Blood
Bloodless MRI seeks a more direct window into the working brain than conventional techniques.
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The Next Ocean
Increasing carbon dioxide in the air is changing the pH of the ocean, which could mean very different communities of sea creatures.
- Humans
Letters from the March 15, 2008, issue of Science News
Alpha bird(s) There is a detail not explicit in the article “Birds network too” (SN: 2/23/08, p. 125) that fits the computer network analogy. By its flight path, each bird adds its personal input and helps guide the course of the flock. Don BurnapRapid City, S.D. Andrea Cavagna, a physicist at Italy’s National Research Council, […]
