Vol. 160 No. #28
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More Stories from the December 22, 2001 issue

  1. Humans

    Weekly Science Snoop

    WARNING: This fake tabloid contains rumor, humor, and other words that don't rhyme with truth.

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  2. Astronomy

    Did Space Rocks Deliver Sugar?

    Planetary scientists have for the first time detected sugar compounds in meteorites, bolstering the view that space rocks seeded the early Earth with ingredients essential for the development of life.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Mice reveal the off switch for inflammation

    Working with genetically engineered mice, scientists have identified a crucial natural mechanism that rodents use to shut down inflammation before it does harm.

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  4. Astronauts’ sleep may get lost in space

    Two new studies indicate that astronauts experience changes in the body's circadian pacemaker that are associated with sleep problems.

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  5. Earth

    Forest-soil fungi emit gases that harm ozone layer

    Laboratory tests reveal for the first time that certain types of common fungi can produce ozone-destroying methyl halide gases.

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  6. Animals

    Unknown squids—with elbows—tease science

    Glimpses from around the world suggest that the ocean depths hold novel, long-armed squids that belong in no known family.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Weak appetite in elderly ties to hormone

    A hormone known to suppress appetite is more abundant in seniors than in young adults and has a greater effect in squelching hunger in elderly people.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Ultrasound boosts drug delivery to tumors

    A beam of ultrasound can make the blood vessels that infiltrate cancerous growths leakier than normal.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Sometimes lying down is harder work

    Squatting or standing might ease baby delivery by allowing the birth canal more room to expand.

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  10. Astronomy

    A night of shooting stars

    Thousands of people in North America who got up early on Nov. 18 were treated to a memorable sky show: White, yellow, blue, and green fireballs, some leaving behind smoke trails, streaked across the sky.

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  11. Astronomy

    Observing the sun’s magnetic pull

    A spacecraft studying the sun has spotted clouds of gas that seem to be headed the wrong way, falling back toward the solar surface instead of continuing to move outward with the stream of charged particles known as the solar wind.

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  12. Astronomy

    Galileo catches Io in a slump

    Galileo spacecraft images show for the first time that material has slid downward along a cliff on Jupiter's moon Io.

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  13. Materials Science

    Carbon nanotubes turn on water flow

    Computer simulations show that water molecules will quicklye nter and flow along a carbon nanotube just 8 nanometers in diameter.

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  14. Materials Science

    Can ancient stone avoid salt attacks?

    Researchers have found that a polymer coating can protect stone from damage caused by growing crystals.

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  15. Tech

    Many-armed magnets reveal stem cells

    Novel particles that combine magnetic crystals and many-branched polymers may permit doctors to track stem cells in people by using standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners.

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  16. Tech

    Engineered crystal obeys inner bananas

    Flexing new skills at custom-designing crystals, researchers built a specific optical trait into a new organic crystal by tinkering with the shape of one of the crystal's constituent molecules.

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  17. FREE Offer to Science News Subscribers

    FREE Offer to Science News Subscribers.

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  18. Math

    Polyhedron Man

    Mathematician and artist George Hart has created a variety of sculptures based on polyhedra and collaborated with other researchers to define and visualize new geometric shapes.

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  19. Astronomy

    Journey through the Universe

    A new permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum traces the development of tools used to study the heavens and how they have changed our understanding of the universe.

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  20. Science News of the Year 2001

    A review of important scientific achievements reported in Science News during the year 2001.

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