Atmospheric warming in coming decades could delay the recovery of Earth’s ozone layer.

Sources: 

Drew T. Shindell
Columbia University
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Center for Climate Systems
2880 Broadway
New York, NY 10025

 

 While tamoxifen can halve the risk of breast malignancies in cancerfree women, it also poses some serious risks—at least in women over 50. 

Sources: 

Trudy Bush
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicines
825 York Road, Suite 510
Lutherville, MD 21092

Leslie Ford
National Institutes of Health
National Cancer Institute
Office of Cancer Communications
Building 31, Room 10A24
Bethesda, MD 20892

Richard D. Klausner
National Institutes of Health
National Cancer Institute
Office of Cancer Communications
Building 31, Room 10A24
Bethesda, MD 20892

 

Researchers have identified the bacterium causing an unusually virulent coral disease.

Sources:  

James Cervino
Global Coral Reef Alliance
124-19 9th Avenue
College Point, NY 11356

John C. Ogden
Florida Institute of Oceanography
830 First Street South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701

 

A common operation to reduce blockage in the carotid artery carries greater risks of stroke than previously thought.

Sources:  

Gary Roubin
Lenox Hill Medical Center
Center for Endovascular Interventions
New York, NY 10021-1803

 

Spherical clusters of polymer molecules in a mixture of water and supercritical carbon dioxide can act as reaction vessels for enzymes.

Sources: 

Frank V. Bright
State University of New York at Buffalo
Department of Chemistry
Buffalo, NY 14260-3000

Steven M. Howdle
University of Nottingham
Department of Chemistry
University Park
Nottingham NG7 2RD
United Kingdom

 

A century-old economic model may help ecologists understand how two species can develop a mutually beneficial relationship.

Sources: 

Judith L. Bronstein
University of Arizona
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
BioSciences West
Tucson, AZ 85721

Jason D. Hoeksema
University of California, Davis
Graduate Group in Ecology
Davis, CA 95616

Mark W. Schwartz
University of California, Davis
Center for Population Biology
Davis, CA 95616

 

By preventing the growth of butterfly wings and beetle horns, investigators can increase the size of other developing body parts.

Sources: 

Douglas J. Emlen
Duke University
Department of Zoology
Durham, NC 27708-0325

H. Fred Nijhout
Duke University
Department of Zoology
Durham, NC 27708-0325

 

Quantum effects do not necessarily rule out the possibility of traveling back in time.

Sources: 

Research Notes

Archaeology

Cutting-edge pursuits in Stone Age 

Human ancestors made sophisticated stone tools, displayed advanced hunting skills, and created symbolic artwork at least 200,000 years ago in the Middle East.

Sources: 

Ofer Bar-Yosef
Peabody Museum
11 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138

Mary C. Stiner
University of Arizona
Department of Anthropology
Tucson, AZ 85721

 

A chemical analysis pushes back direct evidence for tobacco smoking by Native Americans to between 1715 B.C. and A.D. 105.

Sources: 

Patrick Rafferty
State University of New York
Department of Anthropology
Binghampton, NY 13902-6000

 

Biomedicine

Gene therapy for breast, ovarian cancer 

Hyperactivity of a gene implicated in breast and ovarian cancer was dampened by injections of another gene.

Sources: 

Naoto T. Ueno
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Boulevard
Houston, TX 77030

 

Raspberries are suggested to ward off a cancer of the digestive tract.

Sources: 

Laura Ann Kresty
Ohio State University
School of Public Health
370 West Ninth Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210

 

Low doses of arsenic may prove helpful in treating people suffering from leukemia.

Sources: 

Raymond P. Warrell
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue
New York, NY 10021

 

Chemistry

Friends, elephants: Lend me your ears 

Elephants appear to use secretions from glands behind their ears to communicate with each other.

Sources: 

Thomas E. Goodwin
Hendrix College
Department of Chemistry
Conway, AR 72032
Website: http://www.hendrix.edu/other/elephant

Ashley C. Guinn
Hendrix College
Department of Chemistry
Conway, AR 72032
 Website: http://www.hendrix.edu/other/elephant

 

A violin’s sweet sound may depend on the wood's finish.

Sources: 

Joseph Nagyvary
Texas A&M University
Department of Biochemistry
College Station, TX 77843

 

Certain fire extinguishers can smother flames with a foamy layer of soap.

Sources: 

Jenny N. Davis
Saint John’s University
College of St. Benedict
Department of Chemistry
St. Joseph, MN 56374

Philip J. Karjala
Saint John’s University
College of St. Benedict
Department of Chemistry
St. Joseph, MN 56374

Butterflies may be more capable of learning than pollination biologists have thought.

Sources:  

Lawrence E. Gilbert
University of Texas
Department of Zoology
Austin, TX 78712

Dave Goulson
University of Southampton
School of biological Sciences
Division of Biodiversity and Ecology
Southampton SO16 7PX
United Kingdom

Alcinda C. Lewis
P.O. Box 1543
Boulder, CO 80306

Evandro Oliveira
University of Texas
Department of Zoology
Austin, TX 78712

Martha R. Weiss
Georgetown University
Biology Department
Washington, DC 20057-1028

 

Physicists find surprises when they probe the behavior of electrons inside tiny semiconductor structures called quantum dots.

Sources: 

Raymond C. Ashoori
Room 13-2503
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

Charles M. Marcus
Department of Physics
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-4060
Web site: http://www-leland.stanford.edu/group/MarcusLab/

Paul L. McEuen
Department of Physics
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-7300