July 26, 1997

When Earth Tipped, Life Went Wild

A sudden tilting of the planet during the Cambrian period may have spawned an explosion in the diversity of animal life.

Stefan Bengtson
Department of Paleozoology
Swedish Museum of Natural History
Box 50007
Stockholm S-10405
Sweden

Ian Dalziel
Institute of Geophysics
University of Texas
8701 Mopac Boulevard
Austin, TX 78759-8345

Joseph L. Kirschvink
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125

Internet congestion stirs up data storms

Frequent spikes of high activity occurring at random times and typically lasting a fraction of a second punctuate Internet traffic.

Bernardo A. Huberman
Dynamics of Computation Group
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
3333 Coyote Hill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304
Website: http://www.parc.xerox.com/spl/groups/dynamics/

Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason
Department of Economics
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Website: http://www.ipps.lsa.umich.edu:70/ipps/people/jmm/jmm_info.html.

HIV protein prepares virus' next victims

The HIV protein Tat triggers changes within immune cells that allow the AIDS virus to reproduce there.

Chiang Li
Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Harvard Medical School
44 Binney Street
Boston, MA 02115

Weak flames ignite hope for clean engines

Studies of flames aboard the space shuttle allow researchers to improve their models of combustion and soot formation.

Gerard M. Faeth
Aerospace Engineering
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2118

Robert J. Santoro
College of Engineering
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802

Karen J. Weiland
NASA Lewis Research Center
21000 Brookpark Road
Mailstop 110-3
Cleveland, OH 44135

Wordy tots ignore some speech sounds

As 14-month-old infants begin to learn word meanings, they ignore certain speech sounds that 8-month-old babies perceive with ease.

Peter W. Jusczyk
Department of Psychology
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD 21218

Christine L. Stager
Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
2136 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Canada

Janet F. Werker
Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
2136 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Canada

Jellies and their twinkling protein

Individual molecules of a green fluorescent protein, which makes jellyfish glow, blink repeatedly when excited by laser light.

William E. Moerner
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry 0340
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093-0340
E-mail: wmoerner@ucsd.edu

George N. Phillips
Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Mail Stop 140
Rice University
6100 S. Main Street
Houston, TX 77005-1892
E-mail: georgep@rice.edu

S. James Remington
Institute of Molecular Biology and Department of Physics
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1226
E-mail: jim@uoxray.uoregon.edu

Roger Y. Tsien
Department of Pharmacology
Howard Hughes Medical Institute 0647
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093-0647
E-mail: rtsien@ucsd.edu

Secrets underlie lethal heart condition

Five genetic mutations are now known to cause long QT syndrome, a potentially fatal heart condition.

G. Michael Vincent
Department of Medicine
University of Utah
LDS Hospital
8th Avenue and C Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84143

Research Notes:

Agriculture

Plants with a bug home advantage

Small tufts of hair on a plant can provide shelter to insects that benefit the plant.

Sources:

Anurag A. Agrawal
Department of Entomology
University of California
Davis, CA 95616

Cassava pest biologically suppressed

A predatory mite from Brazil is turning out to control a destructive cassava pest in Africa.

Sources:

Marjorie Hoy
Department of Entomology
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611

J.S. Yaninek
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
B.P. 08-0932
Cotonou
Benin

Biology

Gene tells left from right

Mutations in a gene called lefty result in mice whose internal organs end up on the wrong sides of their bodies.

Sources:

Hiroshi Hamada
Division of Molecular Biology
Osaka University
Yamada-oka 1-3
Suita, Osaka 00565
Japan

Worms and flies share a sexy gene

A gene involved in determining the sex of worms resembles one that performs similar duties in insects.

Sources:

David Zarkower
Department of Biochemistry
University of Minnesota Medical School
420 Delaware Street, S.E.
Box 206 MHC
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Biomedicine

Blood screens may need a finer mesh

Current screening methods for blood donated in the United States may miss some viral fragments.

Sources:

Dorothea Zucker-Franklin
New York University Medical Center
550 First Avenue
New York, NY 10016

Inhaled steroids linked to cataracts

Older people who used corticosteroid inhalers have a heightened risk of developing cataracts.

Sources:

Robert Cumming
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine
Building A27
University of Sydney
Sydney, New South Wales 2006
Australia

Leo Chylack Jr.
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, MA 02115

Earth Science

The San Andreas' secret helpers

Scientists resolve a long-standing problem about how the Pacific tectonic plate manages to slide past North America.

Sources:

William R. Dickinson
Department of Geosciences
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85718

Brian P. Wernicke
Division of Geological and Planetary Science
California Insitute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125

Volcano dumps ash on Mexico City

The recent eruption of Popocatepetl was the biggest in more than 50 years.

Sources:

Servando de la Cruz-Reyna
National Center for Disaster Prevention
Avenue Delfin Madrigal 665
Mexico, 304 360

Articles:

A Soil Story

Life inside a nematode: Creative chemistry and novel pest control

Bacteria generate light and produce red pigments that behave like antibiotics and crystals that may become useful insecticides.

Sources:

Jerry Ensign
Department of Bacteriology
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53706

Kenneth Nealson
Center for Great Lakes Studies
University of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI 53204

George Poinar
Department of Entomology
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331

John M. Webster
Department of Biological Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
Canada

From Microdevice to Smart Dust

Learning to build, program, and control multitudes of interacting micromachines

Microelectromechanical systems offer novel ways of maneuvering aircraft, moving around paper or microscopic parts, and performing aerial surveillance.

Sources:

Andrew A. Berlin
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
3333 Coyote Hill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304
Website: http://www.parc.xerox.com/spl/projects/eca-smart-matter/

Chih-Ming Ho
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1597
Website: http://ho.seas.ucla.edu

Table of Contents - 7/26/97

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