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News of the Week:

Spray Guards Chicks from Infections 

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug to prevent chickens from becoming infected with food-poisoning microbes such as Salmonella.

Further Readings: 

1996. U.S. Food Safety: Information on foodborne illness. U.S. General Accounting Office Report RCED-96-96. Washington, D.C. May.

1994. Foodborne pathogens: Risks and consequences. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology Task Force Report 122. Ames. September.

Bilgili, S.F. 1995. Competitive Exclusion: The basics. Broiler Industry(September):18.

Cliver, D.O. 1993. Eating safely: Avoiding foodborne illness. American Council on Science and Health. New York.

Corrier, D.E., et al. 1995. Control of Salmonella typhimurium colonization in broiler chicks with a continuous-flow characterized mixed culture of cecal bacteria. Poultry Science 74:916.

DeLoach, J.R. 1997. CE under the microscope. International Hatchery Practice 11(September):20.

Glickman, D. 1998. Turning the tables on food-borne illness. National Press Club. Information available at: http://www.usda.gov/news/speeches/index98.htm

Nisbet, D.J., D.E. Corrier, and J.R. DeLoach. 1995. Probiotic for control of Salmonella. Patent No. 5,478,557. December.

Raloff, J. 1998. A polished approach to food safety. Science News Online. Information can be found at: http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc98/2_14_98/food.htm.

 

Science Talent Search has new sponsor

 Further Readings: 

Milius, S. 1998. Math enthusiast wins Science Talent Search. Science News 153(March 14):165.

French involvement may boost Mars studies 

A proposed collaboration between the French Space Agency and NASA may nearly double the U.S. budget for obtaining samples of Mars over the next decade and would provide additional, small-scale flights to the Red Planet.

Further Readings: 

1996. Rocket mishap destroys Cluster. Science News 150(July 27):59.

Magnetic materials keep fridges cool 

Materials that change temperature in a magnetic field could form the basis of refrigerators cold enough to liquefy hydrogen.

References:  

Pecharsky, V.K. 1998. The giant magnetocaloric effect. Meeting of the American Physical Society. Los Angeles. March.

Shull, R.D. 1998. The enhanced magnetocaloric effect of magnetic nanocomposites. Meeting of the American Physical Society. Los Angeles. March

Zimm, C. 1998. Sub-room temperature magnetic refrigerator. Meeting of the American Physical Society. Los Angeles. March.

Further Readings: 

Pecharsky, V.K., and K.A. Gschneidner, Jr. 1997. Tunable magnetic regenerator alloys with a giant magnetocaloric effect for magnetic refrigeration from ~20 to ~290 K. Applied Physics Letters 70(June 16):3299.

 

Gene may open new avenue for fighting fat

Keeping mice in the cold turns on a gene that may control adaptive thermogenesis, a mechanism the body uses to dissipate excess calories.

References:  

Puigserver, P., et al. A cold-inducible coactivator on nuclear receptors linked to adaptive thermogenesis. Cell 92:1.

Further Readings: 

Additional information can be found at: http://cbweb.med.harvard.edu/research/spiegelman/default/html.

Miller, J.A. 1977. Getting warm. Science News 111(Jan. 15):42.

Seachrist, L., and J. Travis. 1995. Hormone triggers cells to fat. Science News 148(Dec. 9):390.

Wickelgren, I. 1988. Bone loss and the three bears. Science News 134(Dec. 24&31):424.

 

Giant seabed slides may have climate link 

Researchers have discovered a vast layer of debris from a giant submarine landslide.

References:  

Rothwell, R.G., J. Thomson, and G. Kähler. 1998. Low-sea-level emplacement of a very large Late Pleistocene ‘megaturbidite’ in the western Mediterranean Sea. Nature 392(March 26):277.

Further Readings: 

Nisbit, E.G., and D.J.W. Piper. 1998. Giant submarine landslides. Nature 392(March 26):329.

 

He sings Dad’s songs; she sings Mom’s 

Tropical wrens hand down traditional song repertoires, father to son and mother to daughter.

References:  

Price, J.J. 1998. Family- and sex-specific vocal traditions in a cooperatively breeding songbird. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 265(March 22):497.

Further Readings: 

Catchpole, C.K., and P.J.B. Slater. 1995. Bird song: Biological themes and variations. Cambridge University Press. New York.

Farabaugh, S.M. 1982. The ecological and social significance of duetting. Acoustic Communication in Birds 2:85. Academic Press. New York.

Farabaugh, S.M., and R.J. Dooling. 1996. Acoustic communication in parrots: Laboratory and field studies of budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus. Cornell University Press. New York.

Levin, R.N., T.I. Paris, and J.K. Bester. 1996. Social versus innate influences in the development of sex-specific song in a tropical duetting wren. American Zoology 36:92A.

 

AIDS virus may feast on an unexpected meal 

Investigators have found that a class of immune cells thought invulnerable to HIV infection may sometimes make a protein allowing the AIDS virus to infect them.

References:  

Flamand, L. . . . R.C. Gallo. 1998. Activation of CD8+ T lymphocytes through the T cell receptor turns on CD4 gene expression: Implications for HIV pathogenesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 95(March 17):3111.

Further Readings: 

Livingstone, W.J. . . . P. Simmonds. 1996. Frequent infection of peripheral blood CD8-positive T-lymphocytes with HIV-1. Lancet 348(September):649.

 

Research Notes

Earth Science
Water, water, way up high

Earth’s upper stratosphere has grown soggier since 1991.

References:  

Nedoluha, G.E., et al. 1998. Increases in middle atmospheric water vapor as observed by the Halogen Occultation Experiment and the ground-based Water Vapor Millimeter-wave Spectrometer from 1991 to 1997. Journal of Geophysical Research 103(Feb. 20):3531.

Further Readings: 

Gerlach, T.M., H.R. Westrich, and R.B. Symonds. 1998. Pre-eruption vapor in magma of the climactic Mount Pinatubo eruption: Source of the giant stratospheric sulfur dioxide cloud. USGS Report. March.

 

El Niño keeps clutch on climate 

Forecasters predict the El Niño conditions in the Pacific will last for several more months.

References:  

Kousky, V.E. 1998. El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Advisory issued by the Climate Prediction Center/NCEP. March. Information available at: http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov:80/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advosory/index.html.

 

Archaeology
Sloping toward agriculture 

Upsetting the traditional view of the agricultural revolution, archaeologists identified a huge hillside settlement that arose 3,000 years ago and was relatively slow to cultivate crops.

References: 

Hard, R.J., and J.R. Roney. 1998. A massive terraced village complex in Chihuahua, Mexico, 3000 years before present. Science 279(March 13):1661.

 

Biomedicine
An enzymatic sex difference 

Gender difference in heart disease may be due to enzyme.

References:  

Hokanson, J.E. 1998. Sex differences in heart disease may be due to enzyme that breaks down fat. Meeting of the American Heart Association. Santa Fe. March.

 

Cigars linked to disease of heart 

Cigars linked to heart disease.

References:  

Iribarren, C. 1998. Cigars risk of cardiomyopathy. Meeting of the American Heart Association. Santa Fe. March.

 

Migraine’s link to heart problems? 

Migraines may increase risk of heart disease.

References:  

Rose, K.M. 1998. Is there a connection between migraine and risk of heart disease? Meeting of the American Heart Association. Santa Fe. March.

 

Physics
Chemistry smoothes out silicon surface 

Etching silicon with an acid can make the surface perfectly flat, offering atomic level control of features on computer chips.

References:  

Hines, M.A. 1998. Making smooth silicon surfaces with chemistry. Meeting of the American Physical Society. Los Angeles. March.

 

Electrons swirl into crystal array 

Swirling an electron cloud can mimic what happens in turbulent fluids.

References:  

Additional information can be found at: http://www.sdphca.uscd.edu/.

Driscoll, D.F. 1998. Vortex crystal patterns in the relaxation of 2-D turbulence. Meeting of the American Physical Society. Los Angeles. March.

 

Silk foam eases structure studies

 Foamy silk reveals clues about the structure of the protein.

References:  

He, S. 1998. Structure formation in Bombyx mori silk foams. Meeting of the American Physical Society. Los Angeles. March.

 



Articles:

Digging in the Dirt
Chemical and biological sensors could aid the search for hidden land mines

The lack of effective detection methods hinders removal of the 100 million land mines buried around the world.

References: 

For information about The Third International Symposium on Technology and the Mine Problem see http://www.minwara.org/#MEETINGS.

Further Readings: 

Additional information can be found at http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/.

Additional information can be found at http://lenti.med.umn.edu/~mwd/landmines.html.

1996. Molasses recruits bacteria for cleanup. Science News 150(Nov. 9):301.

Lipkin, R. 1996. A sensor to sniff out explosives. Science News 149(April 6):223.

Morrison, O., and K. Tsipis. 1997. New hope in the minefields. Technology Review (October):38.

Pennisi, E. 1994, Jellyfish’s glow reveals head’s beginning. Science News 145(June 4):358.

Travis, J. 1997. A bacterium that munches on solvents. Science News 151(June 14):371.

 

Yours, Mine, and Ours
 Conditional cooperators give ‘rational man’ a run for his money

A growing line of research emphasizes the influence of collective beliefs about fairness and morality on economic practices.

References: 

Axtell, R.L., J.M. Epstein, and H.P. Young. 1998. The emergence of economic classes in an agent-based bargaining model. Symposium on Social Dynamics. Washington, D.C. February.

Wilson, D.S. 1998. Hunting, sharing, and multilevel selection. Current Anthropology 39(February):73.

Further Readings: 

Additional information can be found at: http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~gintis.

Bower, B. 1995. Return of the group. Science News 148(Nov. 18):328.

Peterson, I. 1996. The gods of sugarscape. Science News 150(Nov. 23):332.

Sources





Table of Contents - 3/28/98


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