More Stories from the November 5, 2011 issue
- Health & Medicine
NSAIDs may be risky early in pregnancy
Women who take common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during the first trimester could be endangering fetus, a study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Ringing in ears may have deeper source
Tinnitus results from the brain’s effort to compensate for hearing loss, a study concludes.
- Humans
Humans reached Asia in two waves
New genetic data show that some early migrants interbred with a mysterious Neandertal sister group.
- Space
Antennas reveal Antennae
A giant radio telescope array in Chile’s Atacama Desert produces its first images.
- Space
Miniplanet sports megapeak
The solar system’s second tallest mountain hides out in a crater at the south pole of the asteroid Vesta.
- Life
Heart disease has its own clock
Disrupting circadian rhythms in mouse blood vessels hardens arteries, suggesting that timing malfunctions in organs may cause disease.
- Life
Stem cell advance uses cloning
A method that uses eggs to do genetic reprogramming is successful in humans.
- Space
Saturn’s rings tell a comet’s tale
Ripples made by a celestial impact 600 years ago can still be seen today.
- Life
Fossil moth reveals colorful hue
Paleontologists deduce how ridges on the creature’s wings would have reflected light.
- Humans
Columbus’ arrival linked to carbon dioxide drop
The depopulation of the Americas due to introduced European diseases may have spurred Europe's Little Ice Age.
- Earth
Trees have a tipping point
Satellite data confirm that the amount of forest cover can shift suddenly in response to relatively small changes in fire frequency and rainfall.
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- Life
No shortage of dangerous DNA
Woman who lived until age 115 didn’t lack genes that predispose her to disease, but she may have had some that protected her.
- Space
Critics take aim at fast neutrinos
Lack of energy trail suggests faster-than-light finding was miscalculated.
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SN Online
DELETED SCENES BLOG An orbiting camera catches dust devils whirling at high speeds on the Red Planet. Read “HiRISE clocks hurricane-speed winds on Mars.” ATOM & COSMOS Astronomers get a new odometer to measure faraway objects. See “Longer cosmic ruler based on black holes.” ENVIRONMENT A warming climate could be making elk more destructive to […]
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Science Future for November 5, 2011
November 15 The DuPont Challenge science essay competition opens for entries. Learn more at thechallenge.dupont.com November 17 The Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books is announced. See bit.ly/bookprz November 19 The “Beyond Earth” exhibit opens at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. See www.amnh.org
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Science Past from the issue of November 4, 1961
ARTIFICIAL HEART VALVE — A previously hopeless condition of the heart — a defective heart valve — can now be corrected by successful surgery, it was reported at the American Heart Association meeting in Miami Beach, Fla. Many of the 500 gravely ill patients described by three teams of surgeons who did partial or total […]
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The Fact of Evolution by Cameron M. Smith
An anthropologist explains how evolution occurs and why it must for life to survive on an ever-changing planet. THE FACT OF EVOLUTION, CAMERON M. SMITH Prometheus Books, 2011, 346 p., $18
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Arctic Autumn: A Journey to Season’s Edge by Pete Dunne
A naturalist shares memories and pictures of travels through some of the most dramatic wilderness in the Northern Hemisphere. ARCTIC AUTUMN, PETE DUNNE Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011, 258 p., $24
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A Bee in a Cathedral: And 99 Other Scientific Analogies by Joel Levy
One hundred analogies and metaphors make science more visual: Learn how chemical reactions are like school dances and how long it would take to type the human genome. A BEE IN A CATHEDRAL, JOEL LEVY Firefly Books, 2011, 224 p., $29.95
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Invasion of the Body: Revolutions in Surgery by Nicholas L. Tilney
The history of modern surgery is revealed through tales of surgical breakthroughs at a Boston teaching hospital that opened in 1913. Harvard Univ. Press, 2011, 358 p., $29.95
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BOOK REVIEW: The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age by Nathan Wolfe
Review by Erika Engelhaupt.
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Like a Bolt from Above
Lightning scientists begin to solve electric mysteries.
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Beware the Long Tail
Economic models of risk don’t add up, cadre of researchers caution.
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Lopped Off
Removal of top predators trickles through the food web.
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Letters
Bull’s-eye targeted On the picture in “Galactic bull’s-eye” (SN: 9/24/11, p. 10), I am quite puzzled. Do my eyes deceive me, or is there another bull’s-eye galaxy behind the first, located at the 1 o’clock position? How is this possible? Are these strange objects magically clustered along some line pointing towards us? Jeff Brewer, Newton […]
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Olive oil injections aid in treating pneumonia
Treating pneumonia with olive oil sounds strange, but the idea showed signs of early scientific savvy.
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The Face of the Earth: Natural Landscapes, Science, and Culture by SueEllen Campbell
An English professor takes readers on a poetic exploration of geology, aided by essays from scientists and other writers. THE FACE OF THE EARTH, SUEELLEN CAMPBELL Univ. of California Press, 2011, 320 p., $26.95
