| Sources | References |
News of the Week:
Astronomers
Aglow About Infrared Maps
A new map that portrays the infrared background radiation of the cosmos suggests that dust plays a major role in obscuring galaxies.
Sources:
Marc Davis
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Astronomy
Berkeley, CA 94720-3411
Bruno Guiderdoni
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
CNRS
98bis Boulevard Arago
F-75014 Paris
France
Michael G. Hauser
Space Telescope Science Institute
3700 San Martin Drive
Baltimore, MD 21218
Joseph I. Silk
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Astronomy
Berkeley, CA 94720-3411
The Science Talent Search will need to choose a new sponsor after Westinghouse Electric Corp., which for 57 years funded the contest for high school students, was absorbed by CBS Corp. last month.
Future
farmers may collect urine, not milk
Researchers have created transgenic mice that produce a pharmaceutical product in their urine.
Sources:
David Kerr
University of Vermont
Department of Animal Sciences
Terrill Hall
Burlington, VT 05405
Henryk Lubon
American Red Cross
15601 Crabbs Branch Way
Rockville, MD 20855
Robert J. Wall
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
Gene Evaluation and Mapping Laboratory
Beltsville, MD 20705
Posture control depends on balancing act
Measuring the subtle movements of a person standing quietly furnishes information about that person's ability to respond to small shoves and other perturbations.
Sources:
Carson C. Chow
Department of Mathematics
Boston University
111 Cummington Street
Boston, MA 02215
Web site: http://math.bu.edu/people/ccc/
James J. Collins
Center for BioDynamics
Boston University
44 Cummington Street
Boston, MA 02215
Nanotubes: Metallic by a twist of fate
The electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes--formed when an individual layer of graphite rolls into a seamless cylinder--depends on the degree of spiral in the nanotube's lattice structure.
Sources:
Andrew G. Rinzler
Rice University
Rice Quantum Institute
Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology
Departments of Chemistry and Physics
Mail Stop 100
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77251
Chimp brains show humanlike tilt to left
A brain structure thought to be involved in human language is larger on the left side of the chimpanzee brain than on the right.
Sources:
Patrick J. Gannon
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Department of Otolaryngology
P.O. Box 1189
5th Avenue at 100th Street
New York, NY 10029-6574
Katerina Semendeferi
University of California, San Diego
Department of Anthropology
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0532
Ebola virus vaccine protects guinea pigs
A vaccine for Ebola virus works in guinea pigs; researchers are starting trials in monkeys.
Sources:
Gary J. Nabel
University of Michigan Medical Center
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Departments of Biological Chemistry and Internal Medicine
1150 West Medical Center Drive, 4520 MSRB I
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0650
Anthony Sanchez
National Centers for Infectious Diseases
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Special Pathogens Branch
Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases
1600 Clifton Road
Atlanta, GA 30333
Jonathan F. Smith
U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases
Virology Division
Fort Detrick
Frederick, MD 21701
A meaty answer to a nosy question
Researchers have found the cell surface protein that allows the mammalian nose to smell octanal, a molecule responsible for creating a meat odor.
Sources:
Stuart Firestein
Columbia University
Biological Sciences
920 Fairchild Center
Mail Stop Code 2438
New York, NY 10027
Web site: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/faculty/firestein.html
Sulfur speeds oil formation in lab
The presence of reactive sulfur compounds could help explain oil deposits that show up in unexpected places.
Sources:
Alan Burnham
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
P.O. Box 808
Mail Stop L-487
Livermore, CA 94551
E-mail: burnham1@llnl.gov
Michael D. Lewan
U.S. Geological Survey
Denver Federal Center
P.O. Box 25046
Mail Stop 977
Denver, CO 80225
Research Notes:
Animal Science
Take bison risk seriously
Though the chance is small that bison and elk from Yellowstone National Park will spread brucellosis to cattle, the potential threat is worth worrying about, says the National Research Council.
Sources:
Norman F. Cheville
Iowa State University
College of Veterinary Medicine
Department of Veterinary Pathology
Ames, IA 50011
The trouble with tenage tadpoles
Tadpoles go temporarily deaf just before they metamorphose into frogs.
Sources:
Seth S. Boatright-Horowitz
Brown University
Department of Neuroscience
P.O. Box 1953
Providence, RI 02912
Andrea M. Simmons
Brown University
Department of Neuroscience
P.O. Box 1953
Providence, RI 02912
On the trail of ants' fancy footwork
Ants appear to use hairs on their feet to track a scented trail.
Sources:
Nancy E. Cohen
University of Kansas
Department of Entomology
Haworth Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045
Gerrit de Boer
University of Kansas
Department of Entomology
Haworth Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045
Biology
Obese birds make good athletes
Some of the fattest birds to lumber into the sky may achieve their long-distance triumphs by reducing the size of several internal organs.
Sources:
Robert E. Gill Jr.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1011 East Tudor Road
Anchorage, AK 99503
Theunis Piersma
Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
P.O. Box 59
1790 AB Den Burg
Texel, Netherlands
What if fighting fish cheated?
In the showy battles of Siamese fighting fish, bluffers tend to lose.
Sources:
David W. Dunham
University of Toronto
Department of Zoology
Toronto, ON M5S 3G5
Canada
Janet R.P. Halperin
University of Toronto
Department of Zoology
Toronto, ON M5S 3G5
Canada
Technology
Flying toward all-electric airplanes
Replacement of the hydraulic system with an electrically controlled counterpart featuring a new type of actuator could help reduce an airplane's weight.
Sources:
Stephen Jensen
c/o Alan Brown
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Public Affairs Office
Mail Stop TR42
P.O. Box 273
Edwards, CA 93523
E-mail: alan_brown@dfrc.nasa.gov
David Voracek
c/o Alan Brown
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Public Affairs Office
Mail Stop TR42
P.O. Box 273
Edwards, CA 93523
E-mail: alan_brown@dfrc.nasa.gov
Neurons switch when stuck on a chip
A nerve cell attached to a silicon transistor can generate a puzzling dichotomy of signals.
Sources:
Peter Fromherz
Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry
Department of Membrane and Neurophysics
D-82152 Martinsried/Munchen
Germany
E-mail: fromherz@biochem.mpg.de
Web site: http://mnphys.biochem.mpg.de/
Articles:
Freshwater Finds
Inland waters yield a trove of artifacts, history, and mystery
Researchers are beginning to use technology developed for exploring the ocean depths to unlock the secrets of ships and archaeological sites that lie beneath lakes and rivers.
Sources:
Kevin J. Crisman
Texas A&M University
Department of Anthropology
122 Anthropology Building
College Station, TX 77843-4352
Thomas L. Farnquist
Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society
111 Ashmun Street
Sault Sainte Marie, MI 49783
Kevin J. Foster
National Park Service (NHRE-2280)
National Marine Initiative
1849 C Street, NW
Room NC-400
Washington, DC 20240
Daniel J. Lenihan
National Park Service
P.O. Box 728
Santa Fe, NM 87504
C. Wayne Smith
Texas A&M University
Archaeological Preservation Research Laboratory
Anthropology Building
College Station, TX 77843
Bruce G. Terrell
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/SRD
SSMC4, 11th Floor
1305 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Electromagnetic fields exert effects on and through hormones
Magnetic fields may be the quintessential endocrine-disrupting pollutants.
Sources:
Charles Graham
Midwest Research Institute
Life Sciences Department
425 Volker Boulevard
Kansas City, MO 64110
Janet Lathrop
EMF Health and Safety Digest
2701 University Avenue, Suite 203
Minneapolis, MN 55414-3236
Robert P. Liburdy
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Life Sciences Division
Mail Stop-Building 934
One Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
Wolfgang Loscher
School of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover
Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Pharmacy
Bunteweg 17, Building 225
D-30559 Hannover
Germany
Cindy Sage
Sage Associates Environmental Consultants
P.O. Box 50806
1225 Coast Village Road, Suite J
Santa Barbara, CA 93108
E-mail: sageassoc@aol.com
Richard Stevens
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory
Health Division, K4-28
Richland, WA 99352
