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The Ideal Eye?November 15, 1997 | Volume 152 | Number 20 Cover: Every eye -- even one with 20/20 vision -- has some imperfections that limit what it can see. Now, researchers have found a way to compensate for those flaws using technology originally developed for military surveillance and astronomy. In the process, they've succeeded not only in improving vision, but also in capturing the clearest pictures ever of the eye's retina. |
Features:
TimeLine
Food for Thought
Einstein's General Relativity: It's a Drag
Observations of X rays emitted by gas circulating around neutron stars and suspected black holes suggest that spinning bodies drag space-time along with them.
Wheat's DNA points to first farms
An ancient form of wheat was apparently domesticated from wild variants growing in the mountains of southeast Turkey.
Whipping up a metallic frappe
Using only a kitchen blender and a laser, researchers have developed a quick, inexpensive, clean method of producing ultrafine powders.
U.S. survey explores relationship styles
Adult attachment patterns take root during childhood and exert a powerful impact on personality and social development.
Prize offered for solving number conundrum
A proof of a conjecture related to Fermat's last theorem would earn $50,000.
Holey device traps light for lasers, filters
A photonic crystal that captures and amplifies infrared light may lead to improved optical devices.
Biologists peck at bird-dinosaur link
Differences in the breathing mechanisms and hand structures of birds and dinosaurs argue against the idea that dinosaurs sired birds.
Two genes help an embryo pick sides
Scientists have identified genes that help the human body establish a left-right axis for proper placement of its internal organs.
Research Notes:
Behavior
Mysterious thoughts about phobias
People who have phobias about driving alone or being in enclosed spaces rarely express fears of impending danger when placed in those situations.
Lighting up anxiety
Cigarette smoking may increase anxiety, which then declines in the weeks after giving up nicotine.
Biology
Peering into the developing brain
Investigators have obtained the first images of language-related activity in a child's brain.
A role for the prion's better half
The harmless protein PrP, which could be responsible for mad cow disease when converted into a prion, may bind to copper.
Tuning in to a tasty meal
The long snout of the paddlefish may serve as an antenna that detects the electric signals of the animal's prey.
Chemistry
Biosensors respond with colored light
Two new sensors change colors in the presence of chemical substances.
Single enzymes twist and twitch over time
Researchers track the behavior of individual enzyme molecules by trapping them in tiny reaction vials.
Biomedicine
Antidepressants help smokers to quit
Smokers who got an antidepressant drug for 7 weeks had greater success in quitting than those who went "cold turkey."
Salmonella plays the good-guy role
The Salmonella bacterium, when properly modified, attacks melanoma tumors in mice.
Earth Science
Caribbean blasts sparked global warmth
Massive eruptions 55 million years ago may have warmed Earth.
Fossil embryos reveal early animals
Paleontologists have found the oldest known embryos.
Articles:
A focus on adaptive optics improves images of the eye and boosts vision
Technology originally developed for military surveillance has produced high-resolution pictures of the eye's retina.
Outbound Traffic
Scientists identify proteins that move stuff out of the nucleus Specialized molecules escort RNA and various proteins out of a cell nucleus.
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