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New Drug Thwarts a Chronic Leukemia
By deactivating a rogue enzyme, a drug called STI-571 dramatically
improves the health of people with chronic myelogenous leukemia, a deadly
disease.
Minds may track danger unconsciously
An unconscious mental process that evaluates real and imagined danger may
underlie the experience of anxiety.
Polar Lander’s silence deals NASA a setback
Two months after it lost the Mars Climate Orbiter, NASA failed to
establish contact with the Mars Polar Lander after it descended through
the Red Planet’s atmosphere.
Simplicity makes for superfast
computing
A radically new approach to computer design promises to deliver within 5
years a supercomputer that is 500 times faster than any available today.
Buoy oh buoy: Comprehensive El
Niño data
New data show that the 1997–1998 El Niño warming of the equatorial
Pacific shut down the nutrient supply to this vast tract of ocean, and
provide an unprecedented view of El Niño’s causes and consequences in
its source region.
Laboratory-grown corneas come into sight
Corneas made from laboratory-grown human cells may help in the study of
eye-wound healing, replace animals in some toxicology tests, and someday
serve as replacement corneas for people.
Fighting salmon fly dark flag to surrender
Young salmon sparring with each other say “uncle” by darkening their
spots.
Better butter? This one may fight cancer
An unusual fat in dairy products and red meat can, depending on its
structure, inhibit the development of cancer or obesity in rats.
Animal Whodunit, Medical Mystery
Scientists cross species barriers to diagnose West Nile encephalitis
Scientists solving a whodunit in the animal kingdom helped doctors
identify the first Western outbreak of West Nile virus.
Close Encounter: Galileo Eyes Io
Craft records a hot time on a Jovian moon
The Galileo spacecraft braved bombardment by Jupiter’s radiation belts
to record the closest images ever taken of the giant planet’s
volcanically active moon, Io.
Archaeology
Bronze Age origin for Seahenge
A circle of posts surrounding an upturned stump, recently discovered along
the English coast, dates to more than 4,000 years ago and may have been
used in religious ceremonies.
Golden Gate gets older date
A stone structure usually viewed as the main entrance through ancient
Constantinople’s defensive walls may instead have been built originally
as a monument to a military victory.
Astronomy
Elliptical orbits may be planetary norm
Astronomers have found six additional planets orbiting nearby, sunlike
stars, bringing to 28 the number of known extrasolar planets and
suggesting that near-circular orbits like Earth’s are unusual.
Reflected light from an alien world?
Astronomers may have detected light reflected from a planet that orbits a
nearby star.
Behavior
Suicidal link for gun owners
California data indicate that among people who buy firearms, suicide rates
climb sharply and remain elevated for at least 6 years.
Pathways of sound
The primate brain may contain separate pathways for determining the
identity of sounds and where those sounds come from.
Biomedicine
Compound reverses diabetes damage
A compound known as IGF-I reverses in rats the diabetes-caused nerve
damage that undermines the body’s control of blood pressure, leads to
incontinence or impotence, or triggers bouts of diarrhea or constipation.
Pregnancy poses risk for mutation carriers
Although having had children seems to protect most women against breast
cancer, a new study suggests that pregnancy may have the opposite effect
in women who have genetic mutations predisposing them to breast cancer.
