More Stories from the November 10, 2001 issue
- Earth
Grape-harvest dates hold climate clues
The vintner's habit of picking no grapes before their time may give scientists a tool that could help verify reconstructions of European climate for the past 500 years.
- Earth
Uranium recorded in high-altitude ice
An international team of scientists has analyzed a lengthy core of ice and snow drilled from atop Europe's tallest mountain to produce the first century-long record of uranium concentrations in a high-altitude environment.
- Health & Medicine
Molecule may reveal ovarian cancer
The presence of a protein called prostasin may signal cancer of the ovaries.
- Health & Medicine
Anti-inflammatory drug may unleash TB
The anti-inflammatory drug infliximab, also called Remicade, can cause hidden tuberculosis to flare up.
- Astronomy
Tracking the path of a black hole
Astronomers have for the first time measured the motion of a small black hole and a companion star speeding through our galactic neighborhood.
- Astronomy
After a martian dust storm
The largest dust storm seen on Mars in more than 2 decades is now beginning to wane.
- Chemistry
Chemists Try for Cleaner Papermaking
Chemists have developed a novel technology that could help clean up the papermaking process.
- Health & Medicine
Human sweat packs a germ-killing punch
Sweat glands secrete a microbe-killing protein.
- Astronomy
Meteor shower promises quite a show
In the early morning hours of Nov. 18, sky watchers in North America may be treated to one of the most spectacular displays of shooting stars they're likely to see for a generation, if not longer.
- Health & Medicine
Protein may key lupus’ attack on neurons
A protein on the surface of brain cells enables rogue antibodies to attach to and kill these neurons, suggesting an explanation for neurological problems found in some lupus patients.
- Tech
Wiring teensy tubes, strands into circuits
Single-molecule transistors and other comparably small components are now at work in prototype circuits that may eventually lead to electronic devices crammed with up to 100,000 times more transistors per square centimeter than are on today's chips.
- Health & Medicine
Brain may forge some memories in waves
The waxing and waning of synchronized electrical bursts by cells in two key brain areas may promote at least one type of memory formation.
- Earth
Farmers could help heal Gulf of Mexico
Farm-derived nutrients in the Mississippi River that create a huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico could probably be substantially reduced if farmers simply used a little less fertilizer.
- Animals
Finches figure out solo how to use tools
The woodpecker finches of the Galápagos, textbook examples of birds that use tools, pick up their considerable skills without copying each other.
- Astronomy
Extrasolar planets: More like home
A trove of newly discovered planets orbiting other stars suggests that the solar system may not be the oddball it had begun to seem.
- Health & Medicine
The Seeds of Malaria
By studying the molecular footprints of evolution in parasites and human hosts, geneticists are casting light on when and how malaria became the menace it is.
- Health & Medicine
Trans Fats
Increasing evidence links trans fats to health problems, and some researchers are looking for ways to reduce the fats in food.
