More Stories from the October 7, 2006 issue
- Planetary Science
A discordant name for a dwarf planet
The largest known object at the fringes of the solar system, the icy body whose discovery heated up the debate about the nature of planethood, has an apt new name.
- Earth
Reading the tale of an ancient river
Ocean-floor sediment near England holds material deposited during the last ice age by what was then Europe's largest river system.
- Health & Medicine
Bad Alzheimer’s proteins sow disorder in the brain
Alzheimer's disease may start with a single abnormal protein that spoils other proteins nearby.
- Astronomy
Oversize supernova
Researchers have found a supernova so luminous that it must have been produced by a much heavier star than the standard theory allows.
- Health & Medicine
Cigarettes and lead linked to attention disorder
Nearly half a million cases of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder among U.S. children are related to exposures to lead or their mothers' smoking while pregnant.
- Animals
Silky feet
Zebra tarantulas can secrete silk from their feet, a feat that may help them better adhere to surfaces.
- Animals
Krill kick up a storm of ocean mixing
Scientists have measured living creatures' contribution to the stirring of ocean water, and they found that little kicking krill legs do a lot.
- Humans
U.S. population to surpass 300 million
At approximately the middle of October, the population of the United States will hit and then quickly eclipse 300 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Health & Medicine
Improving the View: Treatment reverses macular degeneration
People with the eye disease known as macular degeneration now have a better-than-average prospect of recovering some vision, thanks to a new drug that takes a lesson from an anticancer strategy.
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Shop Until You Can’t Stop: Compulsive buying affects both men and women
A national telephone survey indicates that nearly 6 percent of adults find themselves unable to resist frequent shopping binges that leave them saddled with debt, anxiety, and depression.
- Astronomy
Jet Set: Astronomers identify the makeup of quasar streams
Astronomers have identified the particles in jets emanating from supermassive black holes as electrons and protons, which carry much more energy than some computer models had suggested.
- Earth
Hot, Hotter, Hot: Climate seesawed during dinosaur age
The climate during the time of the dinosaurs varied far more than scientists had previously thought.
- Humans
Nobel prizes recognize things great and small
The 2006 Nobel prizes in the sciences were announced this week, and all five winners are U.S. scientists.
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Wasting Deer: Deer saliva and blood can carry prions
Saliva alone can transmit a brain-destroying disease from one animal to another.
- Humans
Venting Concerns
Scientists have developed a code of conduct to guide their research and activities at hydrothermal vents.
- Chemistry
Cell-Surface Stories
The latest generation of microelectrodes is reaching into biological realms to detect the ebbs and flows of chemicals at the surfaces of cells.
