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The Ultimate Sea Weed
July 4, 1998 | Volume 154 |
Number 1
Cover: The Mediterranean has been
invaded by a
beautiful but aggressive alien plant that is turning
diverse seafloor ecosystems into monoculture
meadows. Help may be on the way, however, as
scientists investigate the possibility of unleashing
some equally alien mollusks to graze on the newcomer.
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sources. |
News of the Week:
Amyloid
Can Trigger Brain Damage
Beta-amyloid, which is found in
plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, is more damaging to brain cells in
old monkeys than in young ones.
Monopole search comes up empty-handed
Fermilab
physicists report no evidence of magnetic monopoles in high-energy collisions between
protons and antiprotons.
Mice help
nail down gene for rare syndrome
A
single gene appears to be responsible for a puzzling human disorder in which people suffer
abnormal growth of fingernails, toenails, and knee caps.
La
Niņa readies to steal El Niņo's thunder
Water in the Pacific has started
to cool rapidly, portending unusual winter weather.
Scientists lose contact with solar craft
Since
June 25, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory has failed to respond to signals from
ground controllers.
Persistent pollutants face global ban
The
United Nations has begun work on a global treaty to reduce or phase out many of the most
toxic long-lived industrial pollutants.
Chemical switch cuts off melatonin
A
newly synthesized substance is expected to promote wakefulness by turning off production
of the sleep hormone melatonin.
Ancient North American shoes step to fore
Inhabitants
of North America made and wore sophisticated types of footwear at least 8,000 years ago.
Fatal
skin fungus found in U.S. frogs
A deadly skin fungus, which has
devastated frogs in parts of Australia and Central America, has turned up in stricken U.S.
populations.
Astronomy
Modeling the whole universe
For
the first time, cosmologists have harnessed enough computing power to simulate the action
of gravity on matter over a huge volume of space, beginning 1 billion years after the Big
Bang.
So cool, and some are still stars
Astronomers
have discovered a new class of celestial objects, roughly one-third the temperature of the
sun and less than one-tenth its mass.
Revving up a neutron star
An
X-ray observatory has shed new light on how rotating neutron stars become millisecond
radio pulsars.
Biology
Understanding the Big Bang of life
A
protein on the surface of sperm is crucial to mammalian fertility in unexpected ways.
Building a pancreas from scratch
Molecular
signals guide embryonic cells to form a pancreas.
Science and Society
Informed consent—Not
Patients
often don't comprehend informed consent forms, even when the reading level is not a
problem.
Journals make family secrets public
Publication of family tree information in medical articles can
violate patient privacy.
Rogue Algae
The
Mediterranean floor is being carpeted with a shaggy, aggressive invader
Sea slugs may be
enlisted to halt the devastating spread of unusual algae in the Mediterranean Sea.
Ringing Earth's Bell
What makes our planet constantly quiver?
Seismologists
have found a subtle and mysterious pulsing coming from Earth.
Letters: A Selection from Letters to the Editor
