Monitoring the power usage of a smart card's microcircuitry can provide data for breaching the card's security.

References: 

Additional information about differential power analysis is available at http://www.cryptography.com/dpa/.

Further Readings: 

Peterson, I. 1997. Chinks in digital armor. Science News 151(Feb. 1):78.

______. 1995. Timing attack beats cryptographic keys. Science News 148(Dec. 16):406.

A fruit fly gene that makes the insects especially wobbly when exposed to alcohol fumes could aid research into human alcoholism.

References:

Moore, M.S. . . . U. Heberlein. 1998. Ethanol intoxication in Drosophila: Genetic and pharmacological evidence for regulation by the cAMP signaling pathway. Cell 93(June 12):997.

Additional information about Ulrike Heberlein's research on alcohol-sensitive flies can be found at: http://gallo.ucsf.edu/PIs/Heberlein.html.

Additional information about the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Research Programs can be found at: http://silk.nih.gov/silk/niaaa1/grants/dbr_ph.htm and at: http://silk.nih.gov/silk/niaaa1/grants/dcpr_ph.htm.

Further Readings:

Bower, B. 1995. Brain data fuel alcoholism gene clash. Science News 148(July 8):20.

Mutations in the gene that encodes the tau protein have been linked to frontotemporal dementia, suggesting that the protein plays a role in brain cell degeneration.

References:

Hutton, M., et al. 1998. Association of missense and 5’-splice-site mutations in tau with the inherited dementia FTDP-17. Nature 393(June 18):702.

Poorkaj, P., et al. 1998. Is tau a candidate gene for chromosome 17 frontotemporal dementia? Annals of Neurology 44(June 3).

Spillantini, M.G., et al. In press. Mutation in the tau gene in familial multiple system tauopathy with presenile dementia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Further Readings:

Geldmacher, D.S., and P.J. Whitehouse. 1996. Evaluation of dementia. New England Journal of Medicine 335(Aug. 1):330.

Larkin, M. 1997. New plaque protein identified in brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Lancet 350(July 5):36.

Spillantini, M.G., T.D. Bird, and B. Ghetti. 1998. Frontotemporal dementia and Parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17: A new group of tauopathies. Brain Pathology 8:387.

Travis, J. 1997. A surprising role for alzheimer proteins? Science News 152(Sept. 20):182.

Researchers have determined the structure of brazzein, a protein 2,000 times sweeter than sugar.

References:

Caldwell, J.E. . . . G. Hellekant, and J.L. Markley. 1998. Solution structure of the thermostable sweet-tasting protein brazzein. Nature Structural Biology 5(June):427.

Further Readings:

Miller, J.A. 1985. A simple sweet from an Aztec herb. Science News 127(Jan. 26):52.

Pennisi, E. 1991. Firms sweet on no- or low-cal sugar. Science News 140(Sept. 7):155.

Raloff, J. 1990. ‘Marriage’ makes sugary bands stay sweet. Science News 137(May 19):315.

______. 1985. A sweet taste of success to drink in. Science News 127(April 27):262.

Wu, C. 1997. Yeast make berry sweet sugar substitute. Science News 151(May 10):284.

Computer simulations indicate that half the ordinary matter in the universe remains hidden because it radiates at difficult-to-detect wavelengths.

References:

Ostriker, J.P. 1998. Meeting of the American Astronomical Society. June. San Diego.

Further Readings:

Cowen, R. 1996. Deuterium provides a cosmic numbers game. Science News 149(May 18):309.

Male western toads can’t identify females, but the species keeps going thanks to the philosophy: "If it’s large and moving, grab it and mate."

References:

Marco, A., J. M. Kiesecker, et al. 1998. Sex recognition and mate choice by male western toads, Bufo boreas. Animal Behaviour 55(June):1631.

Fossilized feces from a tyrannosaur show crunched bones from another dinosaur.

References:

Chin, K. . . . G.M. Erickson, et al. 1998. A king-sized theropod coprolite. Nature 393(June 18):680.

Further Reading:

Andrews, P., and Y. Fernandez-Jalvo. 1998. 101 uses for fossilized faeces. Nature 393(June 18):629.

Erickson, G.M., et al. 1996. Bite-force estimation for Tyrannosaurus rex from tooth-marked bones. Nature 382(Aug. 22):706.

Monastersky, R. 1996. What the dinosaurs left behind. Science News 150(Sept. 21):186.

A large study of British civil servants finds poorer general health in those whose work efforts go unrewarded and in those who report substantial conflict in intimate relationships.

References:

Berkman, L.F. 1998. Psychosocial experiences influence functioning: New risks, new outcomes. Psychosomatic Medicine 60(May/June):256.

Stansfeld, S.A., et al. 1998. Psychosocial work characteristics and social support as predictors of SF-36 health functioning: The Whitehall II study. Psychosomatic Medicine 60(May/June):247.

Research Notes

The only three plant species in the world known to have red nectar all live in Mauritius.

References:

Olesen, J.M., et al. 1998. Mauritian red nectar remains a mystery. Nature 393(June 11):529.

References:

Hughes, M., S. Nowicki, et al. 1998. Song-type sharing in song sparrows: Implications for repertoire function and song learning. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 42(June):437.

A study of gaps in the Amazonian forest suggests that even single-tree logging might invite a boom in heat-loving lizards.

References:

Vitt, Laurie J., et al. 1998. The impact of individual tree harvesting on thermal environments of lizards in Amazonian rain forest. Conservation Biology 12(June):654.

A billion years of geologic stability may have spurred the evolution of complex life.

References:

Brasier, M.D., and J.F. Lindsay. 1998. A billion years of environmental stability and the emergence of eukaryotes: New data from northern Australia. Geology 26(June):555.

El Niños have gotten warmer and more frequent this century.

References:

Additional information about El Niño can be found at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Website at: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s36.htm.

Components of some age-old treatments function like estrogen.

References:

Duke, J.A. 1997. The Green Pharmacy. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press.

Eagon, P.K. . . . C.L. Eagon. 1998. Estrogenicity of medicinal botanicals. Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. March. New Orleans.

Psychologists disagree over the practical implications of using deceptive tactics in their research.

References:

Bröder, A. In press. Deception can be acceptable. American Psychologist.

Hilton. D.J. 1995. The social context of reasoning: Conversational inference and rational judgment. Psychological Bulletin 118(September):248.

Kimmel, A.J. In press. In defense of deception. American Psychologist.

Korn, J.H. In press. The reality of deception. American Psychologist.

______. 1997. Illusions of Reality. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Ortmann, A., and R. Hertwig. 1997. Is deception acceptable? American Psychologist 52(July):746.

Taylor, K.M., and J.A. Shepperd. 1996. Probing suspicion among participants in deception research. American Psychologist 51(August):886.

Further Readings:

Bower, B. 1998. Yours, mine, and ours. Science News 153(March 28):205.

______. 1996. Catching mind readers in the act. Science News 149(March 23):190.

A new type of ink made up of microencapsulated particles changes color in response to an electric signal.

References: 

Jacobson, J., et al. 1997. The last book. IBM Systems Journal 36:457 (Available at http://www.almaden.ibm.com/journal/sj/363/jacobson.html).

Kolodner, P. 1997. Electronic ink from modified bacteriorhodopsin. Bulletin of the American Physical Society 42(March):448.

Further Readings: 

Jacobson, J.M. 1997. The winning ways of weightlessness. Available at http://www.theworldin1997.com/sci/004.html.

Kolodner, P., et al. 1996. Electric-field-induced Schiff-base deprotonation in D85N mutant bacteriorhodopsin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93(October):11618.

Negroponte, N. 1997. Surfaces and displays. Wired 5(January):212.

Wu, C. 1997. Bacteria give new meaning to 'computer bug.' Science News 151(March 8):140.

Additional information about the electronic paper project at the MIT Media Lab is available at http://physics.www.media.mit.edu/mm/elecpaper.html.

An introduction to the art and science of microencapsulation can be found at http://www.swri.org/3pubs/ttoday/summer/microeng.htm.