Sources:

Sources may not be available for all articles

A doughboy's lungs yield 1918 flu virus

Eighty-year-old samples of a doughboy's lungs contain genes from the deadliest flu virus known.

Sources:

Ann Reid
Division of Molecular Pathology
Department of Cellular Pathology
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington, DC 20306-6000

Jeffery Taubenberger
Division of Molecular Pathology
Department of Cellular Pathology
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington, DC 20306-6000

Robert Webster
Department of Virology and Molecular Biology
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale St.
Memphis, TN 38105

X-ray microprobe unveils biostructures

A new form of X-ray microscopy allows researchers to map the distribution of protein and DNA in cells and other biological structures.

Sources:

Janos Kirz
Department of Physics
State University of New York
Stony Brook, NY 11794-3800
E-mail: Kirz@sbhep.physics.sunysb.edu

A gene that silences the X chromosome

Scientists are closing in on how the cells of women inactivate one of their two X chromosomes, an essential event if the cell is to survive.

Sources:

Alan Ashworth
Institute for Cancer Research
Fulham Road
London, SW3 6JB United Kingdom

Rudolf Jaenisch Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Resarch
9 Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02141

Molecular motor spins out energy for cells

Scientists have taken movies of the world's smallest rotary motor, an enzyme that makes fuel for biochemical processes.

Sources:

Paul D. Boyer
Department of Molecular Biology
University of California
405 Hilgard Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1570
E-mail: pdboyer@ucla.edu

Richard L. Cross
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
SUNY Health Science Center
750 East Adams Street
Syracuse, NY 13210
E-mail: crossr@vax.cs.hscsyr.edu

Masasuke Yoshida
Research Laboratory of Resources Utilization
Tokyo Institute of Technology
R-1, 4259 Nagatsuta
Yokohama 226
Japan
E-mail: yoshida@res.titech.ac.jp

Working memory may fail in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia may involve a disturbance of working memory, the ability to keep several bits of information in mind for a short time and apply them to mental challenges.

Sources:

Carmi Schooler
Laboratory of Socio-Environmental Studies
National Institute of Mental Health
Federal Building, Room B1A-14
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892-9005

Jonathan D. Cohen
Department of Psychology
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Shedding light on a gamma-ray mystery

What may be the visible-light afterglow of a gamma-ray burst coincides with the position of a faint galaxy and may help solve the mystery of where gamma-ray bursts come from.

Sources:

Bohdan Paczynski
Department of Astrophysics
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544-1001

New station recommended for the South Pole

The United States should go ahead with plans to rebuild its aging science station at the South Pole, an independent review panel concludes.

Sources:

Norman Augustine
Lockheed Martin Corporate Headquarters
6801 Rockledge Dr.
Bethesda, MD

Gene tool may crack open microbial secrets

A new genetic tool may help scientists understand how methane-producing archaea recycle carbon.

Sources:

William Whitman
Department of Microbiology
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-7411

William W. Metcalf
Department of Microbiology
B103 Chemical and Science Laboratory
601 S. Goodwin Avenue
University of Illinois
Urbana, IL 61801

Research Notes:

Biotechnology:

The shell in the soap

A biodegradable polymer from an oyster shell may be finding its way into such products as detergent and disposable diapers.

Sources:

Hap Wheeler
Biological Science Building
132 Long Hall
Clemson University
Clemson, S.C. 29634

Barry Marrs
7 Possum Tree Lane
Kennett Square, PA 19348

Earth Science:

Deep sea not immune to climate change

Even thousands of meters below the waves, deep-sea creatures suffer from climate changes.

Sources:

Thomas M. Cronin
Climate History Team
955
U.S. Geological Survey
Reston, VA 20192

Could gas blast have warmed globe?

Melting of frozen methane deposits in the sea may have caused a mysterious heat wave in ancient times.

Sources:

Gerald R. Dickens
Department of Earth Sciences
James Cook University
Townsville, Queensland 4811
Australia

James C.G. Walker
Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

James Kennett
Marine Science Institute
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-6150

Behavior:

Hunches pack decisive punches

People rely on intuitive knowledge about uncertain situations to guide their decisions, with conscious reasoning arising as an afterthought.

Sources:

Antonio R. Damasio
Department of Neurology
Division of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience
University of Iowa College of Medicine
Iowa City, IA 52242

Prospects for beating bulimia

A statistical analysis of available studies suggests that women suffering from bulimia tend to recover after 5 to 10 years, regardless of whether they obtain treatment, although treatment may speed their recovery.

Sources:

Pamela K. Keel
James F. Mitchell
Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota
75 East River Road
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Articles:

Computers and Proof

Applying automated reasoning to prove mathematical theorems

A computer program designed to reason in a general way solved a a problem that had stumped mathematicians for more than 60 years.

Sources:

Stanley N. Burris
Department of Pure Mathematics
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, ON
Canada

William McCune
Mathematics and Computer Science Division
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 S. Cass Avenue
Argonne, IL 60439
E-mail: mccune@mcs.anl.gov

Larry Wos
Mathematics and Computer Science Division
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 S. Cass Avenue
Argonne, IL 60439
E-mail: wos@mcs.anl.gov

Marijuana on Trial

Is marijuana a dangerous drug or a valuable medicine?

New political forces are prompting a reconsideration of marijuana's medicinal role in a variety of diseases.

Sources:

Barry McCaffrey
Office of National Drug Control Policy
750 17th Street
Washington, DC 20503

Joseph Califano Jr.
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
152 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019

Kevin B. Zeese
Common Sense for Drug Policy
3619 Tallwood Terrace
Falls Church, VA 22041