The greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history happened far quicker than scientists had once thought.

Sources:  

Douglas H. Erwin
National Museum of Natural History
Department of Paleobiology
Washington, DC 20560

David Jablonski
University of Chicago
Department of Geophysical Sciences
5734 S. Ellis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637

Paul R. Renne
Berkeley Geochronology Center
2455 Ridge Road
Berkeley, CA 94709

Paul B. Wignall
University of Leeds
Department of Earth Sciences
Leeds LS2 9JT
United Kingdom

 

A statistical analysis of more than 3,000 recordings of California woodpeckers dashes the long-debated idea that each species has unique drumming.

Sources:  

Danielle J. Dodenhoff
Ohio State University
Department of Biological Sciences
1735 Neil Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210

Robert D. Stark
Ohio State University
Department of Biological Sciences
1735 Neil Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210

R. Haven Wiley
University of North Carolina
Biology Department
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

 

Discharged psychiatric patients who do not abuse alcohol or illicit drugs commit violent acts at the same rate as a random selection of their neighbors in urban communities.

Sources:  

Bruce G. Link
Columbia University
722 W. 168th Street
New York, NY 10032

John Monahan
University of Virginia
School of Law
Charlottesville, VA 22906

Henry J. Steadman
Policy Research Associates Inc.
262 Delaware Avenue
Delmar, NY 12054

Anne Stueve
Columbia University
722 W. 168th Street
New York, NY 10032

 

High concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and other combustion pollutants may contribute to late-term miscarriages.

Sources:  

Richard A. Levinson
American Public Health Association
1015 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20005

Dana Loomis
University of North Carolina
School of Public Health
Department of Epidemiology
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400

Luiz A.A. Pereira
Laboratório de Poluição Atmosférica Experimental
Experimental, Departamento de Patologia
Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo
Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455 ccp: 01246-903
São Paulo, Sp.
Brasil

 

Two studies indicate that genetic variations in a region of the ACE gene may signal men who are at increased risk of high blood pressure.

Sources:  

Eric Boerwinkle
University of Texas
Human Genetics Center
Houston Health Science Center
P.O. Box 20334
Houston, TX 77225

Daniel F. Catanzaro
Cornell University Medical College
Cardiovascular Center
1300 York Avenue, Room A863
New York, NY 44106

Myriam Fornage
Case Western Reserve University
Department of Human Genetics
10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106

Christopher J. O’Donnell
Framingham Heart Study
5 Thurber Street
Framingham, MA 01701

 

A novel process for making porous silicon creates microscopic, light-emitting patterns on a crystalline silicon surface.

Lynden E. Erickson
Room 141, Building M50
Institute of Microstructural Sciences
National Research Council
Montreal Road
P.O. Box 270231
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6
Canada

Philippe M. Fauchet
Department of Electrical Engineering
Computer Studies Building
160 Trustee Road
University of Rochester
P.O. Box 270231
Rochester, NY 14627-0231
Web site: http://www.ee.rochester.edu:8080/users/fauchet/index.html

Patrik Schmuki
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Department of Materials Science, LC-DMX
EPFL-Ecublens
CH-1015 Lausanne
Switzerland

 

Estrogen may turn on some of the same genes as testosterone and other so-called male hormones.

Sources:  

Steven P. Balk
Harvard Institute of Medicine
Department of Medicine
Beth Israel Hospital
330 Brookline Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

Chawnshang Chang
University of Rochester
Departments of Pathology, Urology, and Biochemistry
George Whipple Laboratory for Cancer Research
Rochester, NY 14642

Shuyuan Yeh
University of Rochester
Departments of Pathology, Urology, and Biochemistry
George Whipple Laboratory for Cancer Research
Rochester, NY 14642

 

A near-infrared camera aboard the Hubble Space Telescope has recorded the first detailed portrait of the core of the closest galaxy to Earth that houses an active, supermassive black hole.

Sources:  

Research Notes

Anthropology

Scientists announced the discovery of additional fossils from Australopithecus anamensis, the earliest known human ancestor capable of walking upright.

Sources:  

Peter Andrews
British Natural History Museum
Department of Palaeontology
Cromwell Road
London SW7 5BD
England

Meave G. Leakey
National Museums of Kenya
P.O. Box 40658
Nairobi, Kenya

 

An excavation in Mexico revealed a ball court that was used about 3,400 years ago.

Sources: 

Michael Blake
University of British Columbia
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
6303 N.W. Marine Drive
Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1
Canada

John E. Clark
Brigham Young University
Department of Anthropology
950 SWKT
Provo, UT 84602

Warren D. Hill
University of British Columbia
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
6303 N.W. Marine Drive
Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1
Canada

Astronomy

Astronomers have found the coldest star on record.

Sources:  

David R. Ciardi
University of Wyoming
Wyoming Infrared Observatory
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Laramie, WY 82071-3905

Steve B. Howell
University of Wyoming
Wyoming Infrared Observatory
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Laramie, WY 82071-3905

 

Combining computer simulations with data gathered by a dust detector aboard the Galileo spacecraft, researchers have found evidence of a new, faint dust ring encircling Jupiter.

Sources:  

Joshua E. Colwell
University of Colorado
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Boulder, CO 80309-0392

Eberhard Grün
Max Planck Institut für Kemphysik
6900 Heidelberg
Germany

Milhály Horányi
University of Colorado
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Boulder, CO 80309-0392

 

The Ulysses spacecraft has completed its first lap around the sun.

Sources:  

Richard Marsden
European Space Agency
Space Science Department
Astrophysics Division
Keplerlaan 1, Postbus 299
2200 AG Noordwijk
Netherlands

Biomedicine

Breast milk contains lactadherin, a compound effective in combating the most common diarrhea-causing microbe.

Sources:  

Ardythe L. Morrow
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Center for Pediatric Research
855 West Brambleton Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23510

David S. Newburg
Harvard University Medical School
Shriver Center
200 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02254

 

Coffee, tea, and wine may help a woman avoid kidney stones whereas grapefruit juice apparently increases the chances of getting a stone.

Sources:  

Geologists link a chain of craters

Five large asteroids or comets may have hit Earth 214 million years ago.

Sources:  

William F. Bottke
Center for Radiophysics & Space Research
Cornell University
Department of Astronomy
306 Space Sciences
Ithaca, NY 14853-6801

Richard Grieve
Geological Survey of Canada
Department of Energy Mines Research
1 Observatory Crescent
Ottawa, ON K1A 0YS
Canada

Dennis V. Kent
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Columbia University
P.O. Box 1000
61 Route 9W
Palisades, NY 10964-1000

John Luczaj
Johns Hopkins University
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Baltimore, MD 21218

H. Jay Melosh
University of Arizona
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
Tucson, AZ 85721

John G. Spray
University of New Brunswick
Department of Geology
Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3
Canada

 

Tiny genetic loops aid cancer cells, offer target for therapy

Minichromosomes may help cancer cells proliferate.

Sources: