More Stories from the September 13, 2003 issue
- Earth
Exposure to phthalate may shorten pregnancy
Babies exposed to a common phthalate plasticizer before birth spend a week less in the womb than do those without evidence of exposure.
- Chemistry
Secret of strong silk
By controlling the amount of water in their glands, spiders and silkworms prevent their silk proteins from crystallizing prematurely.
- Paleontology
Fossils’ ear design hints at aquatic lifestyle
New studies of distinctive skull structures in fossils of one of Earth's earliest-known four-limbed creatures suggest the animal could hear best when it was underwater.
- Health & Medicine
Grades slipping? Check for snoring
Children who snore frequently are more likely to struggle with their schoolwork than are children who rarely snore.
- Astronomy
Solar system replica?
Carefully monitoring the motion of a star 90 light-years from Earth, astronomers have found what may be the closest analog known to our solar system.
- Earth
New mantle model gets the water out
A novel notion of geophysical processes taking place deep within our planet may explain why the upper layer of Earth's mantle is relatively depleted of many trace elements.
- Health & Medicine
Coronary calcium may predict death risk
The amount of calcium in the coronary arteries can serve as a risk marker for people who are otherwise without heart disease symptoms.
- Health & Medicine
Control of animal epidemic slowed human illness
Control measures implemented in response to the devastating animal epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease can apparently help curtail the spread of the cryptosporidium parasite, which sickens people.
- Astronomy
A Low Note in Cosmos: Sounding out a new role for black holes
Astronomers have for the first time detected sound waves generated by a black hole.
- Physics
Fusion Boost: Promising path to heavy nuclei
By using radioactive nuclei as projectiles in accelerator-based nuclear collisions, scientists may be able to produce more readily than expected many exotic heavy nuclei that are impossible to make today but are crucial for future advances in nuclear physics.
- Health & Medicine
Damage Patrol: Enzyme may reveal cancer susceptibility
People with lung cancer show less DNA-repair activity by a certain enzyme than people without the disease do.
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DNA Tie for Two Disorders: Genetic defects link psychiatric ailments
Alterations of genes that produce a protective, fatty coating for brain cells may influence the development of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
- Health & Medicine
Sweet Relief: Comfort food calms, with weighty effect
Chronic stress might drive people to consume comfort foods that can soothe the brain.
- Health & Medicine
Paper Chased: Cancer-vaccine study is retracted
Researchers in Germany have retracted a paper that reported promising results for a vaccine that elicited immune responses against cancer cells.
- Earth
River Stats Trickle In: Major floods may be waning in Europe
A new analysis of historical flood records from central Europe suggests that widespread inundations in the region have been on the wane for the past century or so.
- Earth
Danger in the Air
To minimize the threat of volcanic ash plumes to aircraft, scientists are improving methods of satellite detection and developing ground-based gas and ash-plume sensors to monitor volcanic activity.
- Tech
Memory Enhancers
Engineers take aim at increasing the density of data storage on magnetic media.
