More Stories from the September 3, 2005 issue
- Astronomy
Hidden black holes
A new study has added to existing evidence that most of the monster black holes at the cores of galaxies are shrouded by dust.
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Placebo reins in pain in brain
Pain relief provided by inert medications may reflect increased transmission of a brain chemical involved in regulating stress and suppressing pain.
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People with malaria attract more mosquitoes
The protozoan causing malaria may facilitate its own spread by making people more alluring to mosquitoes.
- Earth
Can polluted air cause birth defects?
For the second time, scientists have found evidence suggesting that prenatal exposure to air pollution may cause certain birth defects.
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Chimps ape others to learn tool use
Chimpanzees appear to develop traditions of tool use by copying one another's behavior and conforming to a successful approach.
- Humans
Movies put smoking in a bad light
Smokers in American films are more likely to be villains than heroes, a review of movies from the 1990s shows.
- Anthropology
Chimps to People: Apes show contrasts in genetic makeup
The first comparison of the chimpanzee genome to that of people has revealed new DNA disparities between ourselves and the primate species most closely related to us.
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Olives Alive: Extra-virgin oil has anti-inflammatory properties
A molecule isolated from extra-virgin olive oil has anti-inflammatory properties similar to those of ibuprofen.
- Astronomy
Recipe for a Heavyweight: Making a massive star
New findings strongly support the notion that at least some massive stars form much as their lighter-weight siblings do, by packing on material from a surrounding disk of gas and dust.
- Materials Science
Fog Be Gone: Nanocoating clarifies the view
Scientists have created a nanocoating that prevents fogging and reflection on glass surfaces.
- Chemistry
Class Acts from New Pesticides: Chemicals have little effect on mammals
Two new classes of selective pesticides immobilize and eventually kill many crop-damaging insects by interfering with a cell receptor unique to those pests.
- Tech
Wings warp for birdlike agility
An easily maneuverable, bird-size airplane whose wings can change shape in flight may be able to carry out a variety of assignments in tight spots.
- Health & Medicine
A New Role for Statin Drugs? Cholesterol fighters may reduce deaths soon after heart attacks
Statin drugs given within 24 hours of a heart attack improve a patient's chance of surviving.
- Animals
Bumblebee 007: Bees can spy on others’ flower choices
Bumblebees that watched their neighbors feast on unusual flowers often later checked out the same kinds of blossoms themselves, a behavior that amounts to social learning.
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Rice, revealed
Researchers have finished a 6-year-long effort to sequence the genome of rice.
- Math
Armor-Plated Puzzle
Behind the beautiful patterns of many viral shells lie principles of pure physics and mathematics that scientists have illuminated in recent theoretical studies.
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Food Fix
Scientists have discovered a number of neurological connections between drug addiction and obesity.
- Humans
Letters from the September 3, 2005, issue of Science News
Pick of the crop “Honey, We Shrank the Snow Lotus: Picking big plants reduces species’ height” (SN: 7/9/05, p. 20) suggests that the change is an evolutionary process. However, this and the other examples given are all more selective breeding than natural selection. In this case, organisms with undesirable characteristics (smaller size) are overrepresented during […]
