More Stories from the November 22, 2003 issue
- Earth
Toxic cleanups get a boost
Researchers have developed and field-tested a new technique that identifies specific soil microbes that can break down environmental pollutants.
- Health & Medicine
Acid blockers stop stomach ulcers, too
People who get ulcers from frequent use of anti-inflammatory painkillers can lessen their risk by simultaneously taking acid-blocking drugs.
- Anthropology
Anklebone kicks up primate debate
The discoverers of a roughly 40-million-year-old anklebone in Myanmar say that it supports the controversial theory that anthropoids, a primate group that includes monkeys, apes, and humans, originated in Asia.
- Health & Medicine
SARS virus can spread in lab animals
At least two types of mammals can acquire and transmit the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Chinese animal traders have high rates of past exposure to the virus.
- Health & Medicine
Greek diet reduces inflammatory proteins
People on a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil and fresh fruits have lower blood concentrations of several inflammatory proteins linked to atherosclerosis.
- Health & Medicine
Weight-loss compound may cause arrhythmia
The weight-loss supplement Metabolife 356 causes subtle changes in heartbeat in test subjects.
- Health & Medicine
Defibrillator access pays dividends
Ready access to a heart defibrillator can boost the survival chances of someone who suffers a cardiac arrest.
- Health & Medicine
Protein may predict heart problems
Low blood concentrations of a protein called adiponectin may signal risk of heart disease.
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- Health & Medicine
Rebuilding the Heart: Marrow cells boost cardiac recovery
Inserting a person's own bone marrow stem cells into an ailing heart via a catheter can improve heart and lung function in such patients.
- Earth
Pieces of a Pulverizer? Sediment fragments may be from killer space rock
Scientists sifting sediments laid down just after Earth's most devastating mass extinction 250 million years ago may have found minuscule fragments of the extraterrestrial object that caused the catastrophe.
- Physics
Quantum Pileup: Ultracold molecules meld into oneness
Scientists have for the first time transformed molecules into an exotic state of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate.
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Bias Bites Back: Racial prejudice may sap mental control
White people who hold biased attitudes toward blacks experience a decline in the ability to monitor and control information after brief interracial encounters, a new study suggests.
- Planetary Science
Giant picture of a giant planet
The Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft has taken the sharpest global portrait of Jupiter ever obtained, showing the planet's turbulent atmosphere in true color.
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Whales of Distinction: Old specimens now declared a new species
Japanese researchers have named a new category of living baleen whales to explain puzzling specimens dating back to the 1970s.
- Materials Science
No Assembly Required: DNA brings carbon nanotube circuits in line
Using DNA as a scaffold, researchers have devised a simple way of creating carbon nanotube transistors—a feat that paves the way for more complex circuits made from these nanomaterials.
- Planetary Science
Moonopolies
Recently discovered tiny satellites, all orbiting the outer planets in strange paths, may shed new light on a critical last phase in the formation of the planets.
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Vision Seekers
An investigation of school-age children who received cataract surgery after being blind from birth examines the extent to which these kids are able to perceive the visual world and the ways in which their brains respond to newfound sight.
