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Pesticides Change 'Hands' and Risks
Evolving climates and farming practices may undermine scientists’
efforts to predict the toxicity and persistence of many long-lived
pollutants because pollution-degrading microbes can unexpectedly switch
preferences from one to the other of chiral—or mirror-image—molecular
forms of a pesticide.
Galileo takes close-up snapshots of Io
Swooping within 671 kilometers of the hottest volcano known in the solar
system, the Galileo spacecraft has recorded the sharpest images ever taken
of Jupiter’s moon Io.
Earth-moon model backs general relativity
A new test of Einstein’s general theory of relativity confirms that
gravitational energy is accelerated by gravity, just like mass and other
forms of energy.
Neandertals show staying power in Europe
These heavily built relatives of modern humans lived in the same region
inhabited by modern humans for at least several thousand years, which is
plenty of time for extensive interbreeding.
La Niña will whip up U.S. winter
weather
Cool water in the tropical Pacific will keep much of the United States
warmer this winter.
Are young hyenas just
misunderstood?
Although young hyenas don’t automatically kill their same-sex siblings,
tough times can promote siblicide.
Detection scheme takes lesson from plants
Exploiting a trick from photosynthesis and quantum mechanics, scientists
are using light to seek out faint traces of biochemicals.
Collagen transplant replaces rabbit artery
Using collagen from pig intestines and cow tendons, researchers have made
blood vessels that work in rabbits without clogging or inducing immune
rejection.
The Mental Butler Did It
Inner servants may unobtrusively pick up where free will leaves off
Unconscious operations may rule mental life, while deliberate choice plays
a secondary but still crucial role.
Found: Primordial Water
A meteorite’s salty tale
For the first time, researchers have found water from the birth of the
solar system in a meteorite that landed on Earth.
Biology
Her diet changes her taste in guys
Diet can change the mating preferences of predatory soil mites, offering
people a clue as to why female choice in mating systems hasn’t wiped out
genetic variability.
Souping up the eggs if dad’s hot stuff
Female zebra finches that mate with an attractive male incorporate more
testosterone in the eggs they lay than do females stuck with an
unattractive mate.
Biomedicine
Gene therapy tackles hair loss
The sonic hedgehog gene triggers hair growth when slipped into hair
follicles in mice.
Tumor cells make debut on television
Luminescent human-cancer cells can now be tracked in live mice.
Two genes equal one antibiotic
In an unusual process, one section of nine amino acids breaks off from
each of two different precursor proteins and the two sections fuse to form
a recently discovered, naturally occurring, ring-shaped antibiotic.
Food & Nutrition
Salads: A stroke of luck
Green leafy vegetables, crucifers, and vitamin-C–rich foods appear to
offer protection against the most common type of stroke.
Brewing up cleaner arteries
Drinking tea—rich in oxidants that retard atherosclerotic plaque—lessens
the risk of developing severe atherosclerosis.
Physics
Bubbling to extreme temperatures
Temperatures inside sound-generated, imploding bubbles in a liquid can
reach values comparable to those at the sun’s surface.
Probing sandstone’s pore network
A novel variant of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging allows researchers
to capture crucial details of a porous rock’s structure and transport
properties.
Glimpses of a superheavy element
Researchers bombarded a plutonium target with calcium projectiles to
obtain isotopes of the unusually stable element 114.
