More Stories from the September 25, 2004 issue
- Materials Science
Heat-controlled implant delivers insulin on demand
The field of drug delivery is literally heating up, with the development of a new polymer implant that releases insulin in response to changes in temperature.
- Health & Medicine
Hepatitis B vaccine linked to MS
People who develop multiple sclerosis are more likely than others to have received a hepatitis B vaccination in recent years.
- Humans
Rembrandt’s eye saw no depth
The 17th-century Dutch artist Rembrandt lacked stereoscopic vision, an optical analysis of his self-portraits suggests.
- Chemistry
Bacteria send out molecular scrounger for copper
Scientists have discovered the organic molecule that bacteria use to take up copper, which the microbes then use to chemically crack methane.
- Tech
Transmuting a powerful poison
A new chemical process for fuel cells powered by hydrocarbons eliminates carbon monoxide that would clog fuel-cell electrodes while also extracting energy from the troublesome gas.
- Physics
Orbiting relativity test gets slow start
Unexpected but necessary adjustments to a satelliteborne test of relativity theory have slashed the time available to collect data.
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Marrow cells take up residence in wounds
Bone marrow–derived cells linger in skin wounds much longer than previously thought, aiding in healing.
- Tech
Bartending lessons for microassembly
Engineers have demonstrated the feasibility of quickly assembling identical microcircuit components by agitating subunits in a liquid.
- Paleontology
Big Gulp? Neck ribs may have given aquatic beast unique feeding style
The fossilized neck bones of a 230-million-year-old sea creature have features suggesting that the animal's snakelike throat could flare open and create suction to pull in prey.
- Health & Medicine
Sleep on It: Fitful slumber tied to diabetes risk
Disturbed slumber, or sleep apnea, appears to make people more susceptible to certain conditions that lead to diabetes.
- Plants
Morphinefree Mutant Poppies: Novel plants make pharmaceutical starter
A Tasmanian company has developed a poppy that produces a commercially useful drug precursor instead of full-fledged morphine, and a research team now reports how the plant does it.
- Physics
Spooky Timing: Quantum-linked photons coordinate clock ticks
Physicists have demonstrated a new technique for bringing distant clocks into closer synchronization by means of entangled photons whose quantum properties are mysteriously correlated.
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Roma Record: Paths of the Gypsy population’s diasporas
Tracking genetic mutations has given researchers a tentative picture of the migration patterns of the Roma, or Gypsies, over the last millennium.
- Health & Medicine
Walking Away from Dementia: Moderate exercise protects aging minds
Two fresh studies strengthen the case that physical activity, including walking at a moderate pace, protects the aging brain from cognitive decline and dementia.
- Earth
Deep Squeeze: Experiments point to methane in Earth’s mantle
Although today's fossil fuel reserves reside in Earth's crust, a new study suggests that hydrocarbon fuel might also nestle deep in the mantle, at depths of 100 kilometers or more.
- Tech
Hungry for Nano
The food industry is turning to nanotechnology as it searches for innovations that could bring safer, healthier, and tastier products to consumers.
- Physics
Information, Please
Understanding whether the information swallowed by black holes is destroyed forever may provide physicists with new clues for unifying gravity and quantum theories.
- Humans
Letters from the September 25, 2004, issue of Science News
More of less is more The counterintuitive finding that atrazine is more likely to kill tadpoles when it is highly diluted (“Just a Tad Is Too Much: Less is worse for tadpoles exposed to chemicals,” SN: 7/10/04, p. 20: Just a Tad Is Too Much: Less is worse for tadpoles exposed to chemicals) reminds me […]
