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Mutual Memory MastersSeptember 13, 1997 | Volume 152 | Number 11 Cover: Elderly people may compensate for normal memory losses by collaborating with others. New research finds that long-time spouses allowed to consult with one another remember as much about a recently heard story as young adults operating singly or in married pairs. (illustration: Dan Skripkar) |
Features:
TimeLine
Food for Thought
News of the Week:
The West Coast's Roving Real Estate
Much of British Columbia and southeast Alaska may once have been attached to Mexico.
A participant in the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search discovered the largest known prime number, an 895,932-digit behemoth. Diminished repertoire cripples fungus
The disease-causing fungus C. albicans must switch back and forth between two different characteristic shapes in order to cause illness. People of different ethnic backgrounds respond differently to the pain-relief drug codeine, with some experiencing no effect at all. Spacewalkers restore some power to Mir
During a 6-hour spacewalk, crew members aboard the Mir space station reoriented two solar arrays, restoring some power to the troubled craft. Toxic landfill may cause babies to be tiny
Exposures to toxic chemicals emanating from a hazardous waste site appear to reduce birth weights. Gene defect for muscle disorder identified
Researchers located the genetic mutation that causes early-onset torsion dystonia.
Well-groomed rodents stay cool, calm
A rat's biological and behavioral responses to stress are set by the amount of grooming it received from its mother in the first weeks after birth. 
Lucky choice turns up world-record prime
Drug sensitivity varies with ethnicity
Research Notes:
Biology
When a tongue goes ballistic
A lungless salamander catches insects using an impressive set of muscles that fires the tongue ballistically.
Cockroach scent as status symbol
When the ingredients in a sex pheromone are altered, a cockroach's social standing changes.
Chemistry
Liquid-to-gel polymer delivers drugs
Injecting a gel capsule under the skin may serve as an alternative to intravenous delivery or surgical implantation.
A test for tainted blood
A technique that detects the anticoagulant EDTA in minute blood samples could prove useful to forensic scientists.
Earth Science
Bonanza of Arctic Ocean data
The U.S. Navy released 25 years' worth of formerly secret information about the Arctic seafloor.
Hot springs provide hints of eruption
Thermal springs just off the coast of Montserrat showed signs of the mounting danger prior to the 1995 volcanic eruption. Science & Society DOD's year 2000 vulnerabilities
Two new reports highlight the Defense Department's challenges in getting its computers to recognize dates after 1999. Want a job? Become a PhD
U.S. residents with doctorates have higher rates of employment than other segments of society.
Articles:
Automated cars take their drivers for a ride
Cars that drive themselves down the highway hold the potential to reduce accidents, ease traffic congestion, and save fuel.
Partners in Recall
Elderly spouses build better memories through collaboration Elderly people can compensate for declining individual memories by intensifying their efforts at collaborative recall, particularly with their spouses.
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