Pacific Warmth Augurs Weird Weather

Rising temperatures in the central Pacific hint at the arrival of an El Nino ocean warming.

Napless cats awaken interest in adenosine

In cat brains, the chemical adenosine builds up during waking periods and declines in sleep, adding weight to the theory that it governs when an animal must sleep.

T. rex bested by Argentinean beast

A carnivorous dinosaur from Argentina surpasses T. rex in size and weight.

Risks for women: Passive smoke and obesity

A large, ongoing study of U.S. nurses indicates that secondhand smoke is a potent risk factor for heart disease, as obesity is for stroke.

Sound conveyor belt for delaying photons

An acoustic wave can carry light-generated electron-hole pairs in a semiconductor, allowing the slowing down or storing of optical signals on an integrated-circuit chip.

Laurels and laureates at 48th science fair

Six Nobel prize winners joined 1,089 high school students competing for $2 million in scholarships and prizes at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Louisville, Ky.

How zeolites hold tight to metal ions

A computer analysis explains how metal ions bind to porous catalysts called zeolites.

Research Notes:

Anthropology

Brawn of humanity

A new fossil analysis finds that members of the Homo species between 1.8 million and 36,000 years ago had considerably bigger bodies than modern humans.

Seeds of agriculture in the Americas

Squash seeds and stems found in a Mexican cave suggest that plant domestication originated 10,000 years ago in the Americas, about 4,000 years before the cultivation of maize and beans.

Biology

Uncle Sam needs a few good biologists

The military agency DARPA intends to fund a variety of research efforts in biological weapons countermeasures.

The benefits of mother's milk

A protein found in breast milk may protect infants against a bacterial toxin.

Earth Science

Vanished sea leaves climatic legacy

A sea that disappeared from Asia 30 million years ago transformed the climate of the entire continent.

Debate smolders over cause of ice ages

A new report argues that subtle shifts in Earth's orbit are the cause of the ice ages.

Food Science

Deciphering the grapefruit juice effect

A new understanding of why drinking grapefruit juice enhances the potency of certain drugs may pay off in recipes for more reliable pharmaceuticals.

Dieting impairs reaction time

Women who alter their diet to shed weight lose a little speed in responding to simple stimuli.

Articles:

Beyond Hot Air

Will the world adopt strict limits on greenhouse gas emssions?

Although scientific evidence indicates that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise, the U.N. Framework on Climate Change has produced little substantive action toward its stated goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

Chemical Buzz

Honeybees and their hives act as sensors for pollution

Scientists can paint a picture of the environmental contamination in an area by analyzing the substances bees bring back to the hive.

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