May 3, 1997

Milky Way's Heart Gushes Antimatter

The heart of our galaxy pumps a fountain of antimatter and hot gas into the tenuous halo of material lying several thousand light-years above it.

References:

Kurfess, J.D., et al. 1997. Fourth Compton Symposium on Gamma-ray Astronomy. Williamsburg, Va.

Further Readings:

Cowen, R. 1992. Radio jets and the 'Great Annihilator.' Science News 142(July 18):36.

FDA can regulate tobacco as a device

Although the government can regulate tobacco products to keep them out of the hands of children, it cannot restrict advertising, according to a landmark court ruling.

References:

Osteen, W.J. 1997. Coyne Beahm, Inc., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. Liggett Group, Inc. et al. v. United States Food and Drug Administration and David A. Kessler, Commissioner. U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Greensboro Division.

Further Readings:

Bower, B. 1993. Depression, smoking divulge ties that bind. Science News 143(Jan. 30):71.

______. 1993. Smoke gets in your brain. Science News 143(Jan. 16):46.

______. 1992. Tobacco withdrawal: No link to quitting. Science News 142(Oct. 17):262.

Fackelmann, K. 1994. FDA mulls over cigarette ban. Science News 145(March 19):190.

______, K. 1991. Selling smoking to teenagers and toddlers? Science News 140(Dec. 14):390.

Raloff, J. 1996. New signs of nicotine's addictiveness. Science News 150(July 20):38.

______. 1995. Dipping into nicotine content in snuff. Science News 147(May 13):303.

______. 1994. Feds investigating Y-1's production. Science News 146(July 9):30.

______. 1994. Some cigarette makers manipulate nicotine. Science News 146(July 2):7.

______. 1994. The great nicotine debate. Science News 145(May 14):314.

______. 1994. Cigarettes: Are they doubly addictive? Science News 145(May 7):294.

Seachrist, L. 1995. Nicotine plays deadly role in infant death. Science News 148(July 15):39.

Travis, J. 1996. Smoke gets in your cervix and fetus. Science News 149(May 4):282.

Exercise helps some cancer, heart patients

Physical activity boosts the health of people with congestive heart failure and those recovering from chemotherapy.

References:

Dimeo, F.C., et al. 1997. Aerobic exercise in the rehabilitation of cancer patients after high dose chemotherapy or autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation. Cancer 79(May 1):1717.

Dubach, P., J. Myers, et al. 1997. Effect of exercise training on mycardial remodeling in patients with reduced left venricular function after myocardial infarction: Application of magnetic resonance imaging. Circulation 95(April 15):2060.

Thune, I., et al. 1997. Physical activity and the risk of breast cancer. New England Journal of Medicine 336(May 1):1269.

Gene may further obsessions, compulsions

A gene inherited from both parents appears to contribute to a susceptibility to obsessive-compulsive disorder.

References:

Karayiorgou, M., et al. 1997. Genotype determining low catechol-O-methyltransferase activity as a risk factor for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 94(April 29):4572.

Further Readings:

Bower, B. 1997. Manic depression linked to absent DNA. Science News 151(Jan. 4):7.

Chemical weapons treaty sets deadline

The U.S. must dispose of its 30,000 tons of chemical weapons by 2007, according to an international treaty that was ratified last week, and alternatives to incineration are being sought.

Further Readings:

Raloff, J. 1996. Getting rid of chemical weapons. Science News 150(Oct. 5):218.

_____. 1996. Chem weapons: Burning issues. Science News 150(Aug. 31):135.

_____. 1994. Incinerator under fire. Science News 146(Dec. 10):394.

Tying physical theory into stable knots

Theorists have for the first time discovered a way to generate stable knotlike structures as solutions of the equations of field theory, which is widely used to describe many kinds of physical systems.

References:

Faddeev, L., and A.J. Niemi. 1997. Stable knot-like structures in classical field theory. Nature 387(May 1):58.

Perkins, W. 1997. Physicists learn to tie a knot. Nature 387(May 1):19.

Further Readings:

Peterson, I. 1996. Tying knots to tubular geometry, DNA loops. Science News 150(Nov. 16):310.

______. 1989. Knot physics. Science News 135(March 18):174.

______. 1988. Unknotting a tangled tale. Science News 133(May 21):328.

Vergano, D. 1996. The splintered universe. Science News 150(Dec. 7):364.

Paleontologists deplume feathery dinosaur

A famous Chinese dinosaur fossil does not appear to have feathers, as had been previously reported.

Further Readings:

Monastersky, R. 1996. Hints of a downy dinosaur in China. Science News 150(Oct. 26):260.

Hormone may directly trim fat from cells

Leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells, appears to reduce the amount of fat stored in cells, an effect which may offer protection against some forms of diabates.

References:

Flier, J. 1997. Leptin expression and action: New experimental paradigms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 94(April 29):4242.

Shimabukuro, M., et al. 1997. Direct antidiabetic effect of leptin through triglyceride depletion of tissues. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 94(April 29):4637.

Further Readings:

Travis, J. 1995. Mouse obesity cured by hormone. Science News 148(July 29):68.

Research Notes:

Astronomy

More Hubble trouble

One of three infrared detectors installed on the Hubble Space Telescope during last February's repair mission is out of focus, and all three devices may function for only half of their expected 5-year lifetime.

A new tail for Comet Hale-Bopp

As it fades from view, Comet Hale-Bopp has surprised astronomers with a tail of sodium atoms.

References:

Cremonese, G. 1997. Circular of the International Astronomical Union (No. 6631).

Biomedicine

Early puberty turns girls into women

Girls in the United States mature sexually earlier than expected, with blacks entering puberty well ahead of whites.

References:

Herman-Giddens, M. E., et al. 1997. Secondary sexual characteristics and menses in young girls seen in office practice: A study from the pediatric research in office settings network. Pediatrics 99(April 4):505.

Psoriasis balm boosts melanoma risk

One of the most effective remedies for psoriasis appears to increase the risk of lethal melanoma in individuals who have repeated treatments over more than a decade.

References:

Stern, R.S., et al. 1997. Malignant melan oma in patients treated for psoriasis with methoxsalen (psoralen) and ultraviolet A radiation (PUVA). New England Journal of Medicine 336(April 10):1041.

Nutrition

The cost of too little magnesium

Not eating enough magnesium can make physically taxing tasks all the harder.

References:

Lukaski, H.C., D.B. Milne, and F.H. Nielsen. 1997. Work inefficiency in diet-induced magnesium deficiency in postmenopausal women. FASEB Journal 11(Feb. 28):A147.

Further Readings:

Fackelmann, K.A. 1990. Magnesium eases diabetic blood pressure. Science News 138(Sept. 22):189.

Raloff, J. 1990. Low-magnesium diet may clog heart arteries. Science News 137(April 7):214.

______. 1988. New misgivings about low magnesium. Science News 134(July 30):69.

Fussy baby? Maybe it's the juice

Infants can't efficiently digest some of the sugars in fruit juices.

References:

Cole, C., et al. 1997. Carbohydrate malabsorption and metabolic changes associated with fruit juice consumption in infants. FASEB Journal 11(Feb. 28):A147.

Further Readings:

Dennison, B.A., H.L. Rockwell, and S.L. Baker. 1997. Excess fruit juice consumption by preschool-aged children is associated with short stature and obesity. Pediatrics 99(January):15.

Raloff, J. 1997. Grape juice: Better than aspirin? Science News Online (March 22).

______. 1997. Coffee's subtle developmental risks. Science News Online (Feb. 22).

______. 1997. Juice: Babies can get too much. Science News Online (Jan. 18).

Raloff, J., and D. Pendick. 1993. Pesticides in produce may threaten kids. Science News 144(July 3):4.

Physics

First data from new neutrino detector

Preliminary results from the new Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector confirm that the number of solar neutrinos detected on Earth falls significantly short of the number predicted by conventional theory.

References:

Young, K.K. 1997. Super-Kamiokande: First results. Bulletin of the American Physical Society 42(April):954. See also http://www.phys.washington.edu/~young/superk/drafts/aps97.html.

Further Readings:

Glanz, J. 1997. Japan's "super" site confirms deficit. Science 275(Jan. 10):159.

Peterson, I. 1996. Results from a solar cycle of neutrino data. Science News. 150(Sept. 7):149.

______. 1996. Fresh evidence of neutrino mass. Science News 149(May 18):319.

______. 1991. More evidence of a solar neutrino shortfall. Science News 140(Dec. 21&28):406.

Information on U.S. participation in the Super-Kamiokande experiment is available at http://www.phys.washington.edu/~superk/.

Subatomic scrutiny from Jefferson Lab

Physicists have obtained the first results from high-speed collisions between electrons and other particles at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

Further Readings:

Peterson, I. 1992. Flash tracks: Building an 'eyepiece' for a particle accelerator. Science News 142(July 4):8.

Speed of sound in frigid sodium cloud.

Researchers have measured the speed of sound in a Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms.

References:

Andrews, M.R., et al. Preprint. Propagation of sound in a Bose condensate.

Further Readings:

Peterson, I. 1997. Quantum collapse of an atomic cluster. Science News 151(April 26):255.

______. 1996. Viewing, jiggling a novel state of matter. Science News 149(May 25):327.

Articles:

Diverse Strategies to Vanquish Cancer

Researchers take aim at malignancy

Using molecular biology as a tool, researchers attack a variety of cancers.

References:

Fine, H. 1997. The American Cancer Society's 39th Science Writers' Seminar. Reston, Va.

Maack, C. 1997. The American Cancer Society's 39th Science Writers' Seminar. Reston, Va.

Oliff, A. 1997. The American Cancer Society's 39th Science Writers' Seminar. Reston, Va.

Park, H., et al. 1997. Cyrstal structure of protein farnesyltransferase at 2.25 angstrom resolution. Science 275(March 21): 1800.

Tanaka, T., et al. 1997. Viral vector-mediated transduction of a modified platelet factor 4 cDNA inhibits angiogenesis and tumor growth. Nature Medicine 3(April):437.

Further Readings:

Fackelmann, K. 1992. Renegade tumors. Science News 141(May 23):348.

Oliff, A., et al. 1996. New molecular targets for cancer therapy. Scientific American 275(September):144.

Everybody's Talkin'

Language's great innate debate continues to make noise

Whether children learn to speak via intrinsic grammar circuits in the brain or to general learning capacities that feed off exposure to one's native language remains a topic of discussion.

References:

Elman, J., et al. 1996. Rethinking Innateness. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Pinker, S. 1994. The Language Instinct. New York: William Morrow.

Prince, A., and P. Smolensky. 1997. Optimality. Science 275(March 14):1604.

Saffran, J., R. Aslin, and E. Newport. 1996. Statistical learning by 8-month-old infants. Science 274(Dec. 13):1926.

Seidenberg, M. 1997. Language acquisition and use. Science 275(March 14):1599.

Ullman, M., et al. 1997. A neural dissociation within language. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 9(March):289.