Sources:

Sources may not be available for all articles

Warmth After Surgery Can Save Lives

Warming patients after surgery reduces their risk of cardiac complications by 55 percent.

Sources:

Frederick W. Cheney
Department of Anesthesiology
University of Washington
School of Medicine
Box 356540
Seattle, WA 98195-6540

Steven M. Frank
Carnegie 422
Johns Hopkins Hospital
600 N. Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21287

Viruses may leave a weighty legacy

A virus, which induces coldlike symptoms, causes excessive weight gain in animals and may do the same in people.

Sources:

Richard L. Atkinson
Beers Clinical Nutrition Center
University of Wisconsin Medical School
Nutritional Sciences Building
1415 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 888-40VIRUS

Nikhil V. Dhurandhar
University of Wisconsin Medical School
Nutritional Sciences Building
1415 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Astronomers find new member of Local Group

A newly discovered galaxy in the outskirts of our Local Group may provide clues about the formation of dwarf galaxies and refine estimates of the age of the universe.

Sources:

Michael Irwin
Royal Greenwich Observatory
Madingly Road
Cambridge CB3 0EZ
United Kingdom

Solar cells may sub for retinal receptors

Researchers are developing an eye implant based on a solar cell to help restore partial vision to people suffering from a degenerative disease of the retina.

Sources:

Mark Humayun
Wilmer Institute
Maumenee Building, Room 738
Johns Hopkins University Hospital
Baltimore, MD 21287
E-mail: mhumayun@retina.com

Markus B. Schubert
University of Stuttgart
Institute for Physical Electronics
Pfaffenwaldring 47
D-70569 Stuttgart
Germany
E-mail: schubert@ipers2.e-technik.uni-stuttgart.de
Website: http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/kaz/subret.html
Website: http://www.nero.uni-bonn.de/ri/retina-en.html

Early humans make their marks as hunters

Microscopic analysis of animal bones unearthed in a South African cave indicates that humans living in that area around 100,000 years ago were active hunters.

Sources:

Lewis R. Binford
302 Grace Lane
Terrell, TX 75160

Alison S. Brooks
George Washington University
Department of Anthropology
Washington, DC 20052

Richard G. Milo
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Philosophy
Chicago State University
9501 S. King Drive
Chicago, IL 60628

Showy comet lives up to its billing

Studies of Hale-Bopp provide new information about the chemical contents of comets.

Sources:

Brian G. Marsden
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
60 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Harold A. Weaver
Johns Hopkins University
Department of Physics and Astronomy
34th and Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218

Cell death protein triggers diabetes

Diabetes may result when immune cells cause insulin-producing cells to make a protein called Fas and commit suicide.

Sources:

Alexander V. Chervonsky
Section of Immunology
Yale University School of Medicine
30 Cedar Street
New Haven, CT 06510

Jonathan D. Katz
Washington University School of Medicine
Department of Pathology and Center for Immunology
660 South Euclid Avenue
Campus Box 8118
St Louis, MO 63110

Insect-borne disease: Curing the carrier

The protozoan parasite responsible for Chagas' disease can be quelled by a genetically engineered version of a bacterium that lives in symbiosis with the parasite-transmitting insect.

Sources:

Frank F. Richards
Yale University School of Medicine
New Haven, CT 06520

Superfluid gyro detects Earth's spin

Two groups of researchers have exploited the peculiar quantum properties of superfluid helium to build novel gyroscopes that can be used to measure Earth's rotation rate.

Sources:

Richard E. Packard
Physics Department
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94707

Research Notes:

Ethnobiology

What's in a name? Sound symbolism . . .

English speakers can readily distinguish between the South American Indian words for tapir and squirrel, possibly because of the images evoked by the sounds of the words.

Sources:

Brent Berlin
Department of Anthropology
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602

. . . or natural world symbolism?

In forager societies, personal names seem to be unique and frequently drawn from the natural world, in contrast to the English language, where personal names are often recycled and less than 5 percent are derived from the natural or biological world.

Sources:

Ben G. Blount
Department of Anthropology
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602

Faunal fashion of early floor patterns

The artisans who created the whimsical animal images in floor mosaics at a public building in a late Roman settlement probably got their inspiration from pattern books rather than from nature.

Sources:

Arlene Fradkin
Florida Museum of Natural History
1700-P22 S.W. 16th Court
Gainesville, FL 32608

Chemistry

Carbon ribbons go to greater lengths

A new method produces thin ribbons of graphite, which may one day be used for molecular wires or nanoscale electronic components.

Sources:

Frank B. Mallory
Department of Chemistry
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
E-mail: fmallory@brynmawr.edu

Lawrence T. Scott
Department of Chemistry
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA 02167-3860
E-mail: lawrence.scott@bc.edu

Craig S. Wilcox
Department of Chemistry
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
E-mail: daylite@vms.cis.pitt.edu

New element monikers laid on the table

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry released a new slate of proposed names for the heavy elements numbered 104 to 109.

Sources:

IUPAC Secretariat
Bank Court Chambers
2-3 Pound Way, Templars Square
Cowley, Oxford OX4 3YF
United Kingdom
E-mail: iupac@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Website: http://chemistry.rsc.org/rsc/iupac.htm

Materials Science

More bang for the solar cell buck

Solar cells made of amorphous silicon have set a new record for efficiency, converting 13 percent of the light energy they absorb into electricity.

Sources:

Jeffrey C. Yang
United Solar Systems Corp.
1100 West Maple Road
Troy, MI 48084

Metal moves from helicopters to bikes

Beryllium-aluminum alloys, once reserved for aerospace applications, are now being used for consumer products.

Sources:

Chris Hinshaw
Beyond Fabrications
Nuclear Metals, Inc.
152 N. Third Street, #300
San Jose, CA 95115
E-mail: beyondfab@aol.com
Website: http://www.nucmet.com

Organic molecules guide crystal growth

Abalones use proteins to orchestrate the growth of their pearly, calcium carbonate shells.

Sources:

Daniel E. Morse
Department of Biological Sciences
University of California at Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Articles:

Gazing into Crystal Balls

Colloids help scientists understand how materials melt

Colloidal particles can aggregate into crystals, providing a model system for studying the interactions between atoms in a material.

Sources:

David G. Grier
Department of Physics and James Franck Institute
University of Chicago
5640 S. Ellis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
E-mail: grier@fafnir.uchicago.edu
Website: http://rainbow.uchicago.edu/~grier/

Cherry A. Murray
Semiconductor Physics Research Department
Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies
700 Mountain Avenue, Room 1D-334
Murray Hill, NJ 07974
E-mail: camurray@physics.lucent.com

Mark J. Stevens
MS 1111, P.O. Box 5800
Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, NM 87185
E-mail: mjsteve@cs.sandia.gov

Why Do Women Menstruate?

Scientists seek a reason for this feminine phenomenon

A vigorous debate has arisen over why menstruation evolved, with a new study suggesting it's an energy-saving mechanism.

Sources:

Colin A. Finn
Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences
University of Liverpool Veterinary Field Station
Leahurst, Chester High Road
Neston, South Wirral
Chesire L60 2SY
United Kingdom

Beverly I. Strassmann
Department of Anthropology
University of Michigan
1020 LSA Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1382