More Stories from the October 1, 2005 issue
- Tech
Getting a charge out of backpacking
A backpack enhanced with springs, gears, and a generator converts the up-and-down motions of the wearer into enough electricity to power portable electronic gadgets.
- Health & Medicine
Silenced gene may foretell colon cancer
A cancer-suppressing gene, which is often shut down in colorectal cancer, is sometimes silenced in healthy colorectal tissues as well.
- Paleontology
DNA pegs Irish elk’s nearest relatives
Analyses of DNA of the Irish elk, which died out after the last ice age, may settle a long-running debate about the creature's place on the deer family tree.
- Health & Medicine
Acne medicines can be a pain in the throat
Treatment with antibiotics for acne might predispose an individual to getting severe upper respiratory infections.
- Humans
Anti-TB spending abroad could save money overall
Investing $44 million in tuberculosis-control programs in Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic might save the United States nearly triple that amount over the next 20 years.
- Earth
Save the frogs
Researchers have drafted a proposed $400 million research-and-rescue plan for the world's amphibians, at least half of which are in decline or even facing serious risk of extinction.
- Tech
Light sensor may improve battlefield tools
A new microscale ultraviolet-light sensor could help shrink the size of some military field systems used for detecting biowarfare agents and clandestine communications to the dimensions of a cell phone.
- Planetary Science
Sun grazers: A thousand comets and counting
An amateur astronomer analyzing images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory has found the 999th and 1,000th comets detected by the craft.
- Health & Medicine
Falling Influence: Influenza fighters have limited effects
The most readily available drugs against influenza have abruptly declined in effectiveness in the past decade.
- Animals
Looks Matter: If swallows aren’t spiffy, mates’ fidelity is iffy
If a male barn swallow's plumage is more attractive than that of other males, his mate is less likely to have furtive flings with other wooers.
- Chemistry
Into the Void: Porous crystals could do more chemistry
Chemists have devised a new approach that creates crystalline material with some of the largest pores yet.
- Health & Medicine
Better Beta: Cells grown in lab may treat diabetes
Scientists have developed a technique to mass-produce a type of pancreas cell needed for transplants into people with type 1 diabetes.
- Health & Medicine
Give It Up: Cutting back helps, but even a cigarette or two a day carries risks
Reducing tobacco use curbs the risk of lung cancer, but smoking even a few cigarettes a day puts a person at three to five times the risk faced by a nonsmoker.
- Astronomy
Cosmic Ray Font: Supernova remnants rev up ions
High-resolution X-ray images of the Tycho supernova remnant offer new evidence that supernova shock waves generate most cosmic rays that bombard Earth.
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Milky seas clarified
With the help of satellites, scientists have obtained the first-ever photos of an expanse of seawater filled with bioluminescent bacteria.
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Concentrated Guidance: Attention training gives kids a cognitive push
A brief course on how to pay attention boosts children's scores on either intelligence or attention tests, depending on their age.
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Living History
Bacteria and fungi living on artworks and artifacts often cause extensive damage.
- Tech
Growing Expectations
Biofuels made from waste agricultural plant matter are gaining prominence as new technologies make them increasingly competitive with petroleum fuels.
- Humans
Letters from the October 1, 2005, issue of Science News
Name game Does the name of Honda’s robot, Asimo, have a meaning in Japanese, or is it just a tip of the hat to Isaac Asimov (“Easy Striders: New humanoids with efficient gaits change the robotics landscape,” SN: 8/6/05, p. 88)? Dennis LynchGlenshaw, Pa. Asimo’s name stands for Advanced Step in Innovative MObility.—N. Moreira Under […]
