More Stories from the October 6, 2007 issue
- Planetary Science
Neptune’s balmy south pole
Neptune's south pole is about 10°C warmer than any other place on the planet.
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- Animals
Tough-guy bluebirds need a frontier
As western bluebirds recolonize Montana, the most aggressive males move in first, paving the way for milder-mannered dads to take over.
- Earth
Iron to blame
Typhoons that drench Madagascar and spill iron-rich runoff into the Indian Ocean account for that region's massive but sporadic algal blooms.
- Health & Medicine
Lonely white cells
In chronically lonely people, white blood cells show abnormal gene activity that may affect health through immune responses.
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Dangerous DNA: Genes linked to suicidal thoughts with med use
Two gene variations mark many patients who develop suicidal thoughts when treated with widely used antidepressants.
- Archaeology
Lake-Bottom Bounty: Some Arctic sediments didn’t erode during recent ice ages
Sediments in a few lakes in northeastern Canada were not scoured away during recent ice ages, a surprising find that could prove a boon to climate researchers.
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No Slippery Slope: Physician-aided deaths are rare among those presumed vulnerable
Vulnerable people such as the very old or the mentally ill do not seek out physician-assisted suicide in disproportionate numbers, as critics of the practice feared they would.
- Paleontology
Just a quick bite
Saber-toothed cats living in North America around 10,000 years ago had a much weaker bite than modern big cats.
- Health & Medicine
Fueling a Flu Debate: Do vaccinations save lives among the elderly?
Flu shots seem to prevent some deaths and limit hospitalizations for pneumonia in elderly people.
- Astronomy
Match Made in Heaven: Nearby galaxies resemble faraway type
Several nearby galaxies seem nearly identical to some of the remotest galaxies known, offering a glimpse of the era when galaxies first formed.
- Health & Medicine
Shields Down: A cancer-fighting gene declines in old age
Decline of an important anti-cancer gene could contribute to increased cancer risk among the elderly.
- Animals
Crowcam: Camera on bird’s tail captures bird ingenuity
Video cameras attached to tropical crows record the birds' use of plant stems as tools to dig out food.
- Astronomy
Sputnik + 50
The launch of Sputnik 1, 50 years ago, ushered in a scientific and technological revolution, but dreams of the human conquest of space have faded.
- Plants
Stalking the Green Meat Eaters
Pitcher plants in a New England bog hold little ecosystems in their leaves, and also act as indicators of the bog's ecological health.
- Humans
Letters from the October 6, 2007, issue of Science News
Cat scam? Oscar the cat possibly does identify dying patients (“Grim Reap Purr: Nursing home feline senses the end,” SN: 7/28/07, p. 53), but the story you printed presents anecdotal rather than scientific evidence and does not belong in a science magazine. Julie EnevoldsenSeattle, Wash. Correlation is not causation. Could it not be that, somehow, […]
