More Stories from the September 6, 2003 issue
- Health & Medicine
Double Shot: Anthrax vaccine gets makeover
An experimental anthrax vaccine appears to spur production of antibodies that stop the bacterium and disable the anthrax toxin at the same time.
- Archaeology
Art on the Rocks: Dating ancient paintings in the caves of Borneo
By dating the mineral deposits on top of cave paintings in Borneo, archaeologists have pushed back the date of earliest human habitation on the island by at least 5,000 years.
- Planetary Science
Cozying up to Mars
The Hubble Space Telescope photographed Mars on Aug. 27 when the planet came closer to Earth than it had in nearly 60,000 years, enabling the telescope to take the sharpest global image of Mars ever taken from Earth's vicinity.
- Astronomy
Hubble Highlights a Riddle: What’s the source of quick-return comets?
New observations from the Hubble Space Telescope demonstrate that scientists don't know where a major class of comets comes from.
- Animals
Skin Chemistry: Poison frogs upgrade toxins from prey
For the first time, scientists have found a poisonous frog that takes up a toxin from its prey and then tweaks the chemical to make it a more deadly weapon.
- Materials Science
Sopping Up Heavy Metal: Hybrid material removes mercury from water
A hybrid material consisting of a bacterial protein and a temperature-sensitive polymer proves efficient at removing mercury from contaminated water.
- Health & Medicine
Zealous Adherence: Erratic HIV therapy hasn’t fueled resistance
Among people infected with HIV, those who don't consistently take their antiretroviral drugs as prescribed are no more likely to develop drug-resistant HIV than are patients who adhere to their treatment schedule.
- Anthropology
Continental Survivors: Baja skulls shake up American ancestry
Members of a foraging group that lived on Mexico's Baja peninsula around 600 years ago were direct descendants of America's first settlers, who arrived on the continent at least 12,000 years ago.
- Planetary Science
A phoenix on Mars
If all goes according to plan, a spacecraft will land on the north polar region of Mars in 2008 and scoop up samples of the icy terrain.
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Flag raised for kids’ mental health
A study of North Carolina children and teenagers finds that at least 1 in 3 developed one or more psychiatric disorders by age 16.
- Tech
Smart dust can swarm target
Microscopic mirrors can swarm a target and produce an optical signal that identifies the target to the observer.
- Chemistry
Amino acid lends a heavy hand
Scientists have identified a mechanism to explain how amino acids evolved to become exclusively left-handed in all living organisms.
- Astronomy
Lights out
Astronomers who have conducted a detailed analysis of the colors of some 37,000 nearby galaxies conclude that the universe is gradually growing darker.
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Babies show eye for object lessons
Between 4 months and 6 months of age, babies learn that objects continue to exist even when they disappear behind barriers.
- Earth
Indonesian reefs fell prey to fires
The fires that swept through Indonesian rain forests late in 1997 apparently laid waste to some marine ecosystems, as well.
- Chemistry
Catalyzing green chemistry
A recyclable catalyst promises to eliminate the waste generated during the manufacture of a wide range of chemicals, including drugs and ceramics.
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Buyer Beware
A growing number of psychological studies conclude that excessively materialistic values undermine happiness and well-being, although the emotional effects of pursuing money and fancy possessions remain controversial.
- Astronomy
Getting the GOODS on Galaxies
A coordinated effort among the most powerful space and ground-based observatories to stare in detail at the same two patches of sky is revealing how galaxies assembled, how rapidly star formation proceeded in the early universe, and whether dark energy has recently revved up the expansion of the universe.
