A recent pattern of waning male births and increasing reproductive defects suggests that environmental pollutants may be selectively affecting male fetal development.

Sources: 

Richard Clapp
Boston University School of Public Health
Department of Environmental Health
715 Albany Street
Boston, MA 02118-2526

Shanna Swan
California Department of Health Services
Reproductive Epidemiology Section
964 The Alameda
Berkeley, CA 94707

 

Examination of defective heart valves removed from patients during surgery shows a significant number had bone growing inside the valve.

Sources: 

John E. Mayer
Harvard University Medical School
300 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115

Emile R. Mohler
University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
Cardiovascular Section
39th & Market Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Patrice Desvigne-Nickens
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
31 Center Drive
Mailstop Code 2480
Room 4A21
Bethesda, MD 20892

Colorful gene marks mosquito manipulation 

Scientists have finally been able to genetically engineer mosquitoes so that the insects pass on selected traits to their offspring.

Sources: 

Margaret S. Kidwell
University of Arizona
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Center for Insect Science
Tucson, AZ 85721

Alice R. Wattam
University of Arizona
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Center for Insect Science
Tucson, AZ 85721

 

Half of every dose of the drug Ritalin may contribute nothing to its therapeutic effect while possibly adding to its side effects.

Sources: 

Yu-Shin Ding
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Chemistry and Medical Departments
Upton, NY 11973

William F. Trager
University of Washington
School of Pharmacy
Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Seattle, WA 98195

 

An image of a newly discovered Einstein ring shows for the first time both the ring and the intervening body in a single photograph.

Sources: 

Christopher S. Kochanek
Harvard University
Department of Astronomy, MS-51
60 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Butterflies in the scattered meadows of Finnish islands may provide the first evidence of inbreeding contributing to extinction in the natural world.

Sources: 

Tim Caro
University of California, Davis
Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology
Davis, CA 95616

Ilik Saccheri
University of Helsinki
Department of Ecology and Systematics
Division of Population Biology
P.O. Box 17 00014
10900 Hanko
Finland

 

An ancient bone initially reported to have been fashioned into a flute by Neandertals more likely was chewed up by carnivores interested in food, not music.

Sources: 

Philip G. Chase
University of Pennsylvania
University Museum
33rd and Spruce Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6234

Francesco D’Errico
Institut de Préhistorie et de Géologie de Quaternair
UMR 9933 du CNRS
Avenue des Facultés
33405 Talence
France

April Nowell
University of Pennsylvania
Department of Anthropology
33rd and Spruce Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6398

 

A satellite sensor captured images of ring-shaped waves arising from thunderstorms.

Sources: 

Research Notes

Astronomy

Did an ocean flatten Mars’ northern half? 

Parts of Mars’ northern hemisphere may have been sculpted by an ancient ocean.

Sources: 

David E. Smith
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Earth Sciences
Greenbelt, MD 20771

 

Sifting through thousands of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered nearly 100 small, main-belt asteroids.

Sources: 

Robin W. Evans
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mail Stop 183-900
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109

Deborah L. Padgett
California Institute of Technology
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
Mail Stop 100-22
Pasadena, CA 91125

Karl R. Stapelfeldt
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mail Stop 183-900
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109

 

Biology

Rare, long view on frog ups and downs 

Researchers publish what may be the longest series yet of frog census data, allowing them to distinguish between temporary dips and long-term declines in population.

Sources: 

Andrea H. Meyer
University of Zurich
Institut fur Umweltwissenschaften
Winterthurerstr. 190, CH-8057
Switzerland

Jamie K. Reaser
Smithsonian Institution
SI/MAB Biodiversity Program
1100 Jefferson Drive, S.W.
Washington, DC 20560

 

The asymmetry of hermit crabs, thought to be genetically determined, is actually a result of living inside spiral-shaped shells.

Sources: 

Clifford W. Cunningham
Duke University
Department of Zoology
Durham, NC 27708

Alan W. Harvey
American Museum of Natural History
Department of Invertebrates
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York City, NY 10024

 

Chemistry

DNA scissors cleave their comrades 

DNA can act as an enzyme, clipping itself and other DNA molecules in two.

Sources: 

Ronald R. Breaker
Yale University
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
New Haven, CT 06520-8103
Website: http://www.biology.yale.edu/FacultyResearch/Breaker.html

 

DNA can serve as a template for the formation of silver wires only one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair.

Sources: 

Erez Braun
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Department of Physics
Haifa 32000
Israel

Food & Nutrition

Chia for your pet—if it clucks 

Hens who eat chia seeds lay eggs with fats friendlier to the heart.

Sources: 

Wayne Coates
University of Arizona
Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Shantz Building, Room 403
Tucson, AZ 85721

 

Another way alcohol may help the heart 

A Swiss research team identified a mechanism that appears to help explain why drinking a little alcohol regularly may benefit the heart.

Sources: 

Eye-scanning technology and other approaches involving face recognition, hand geometry, voice printing and signature verification for security purposes are entering the marketplace.

A new science may emerge as ecologists and social scientists collaborate to investigate urban environments.

Sources: