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Sooty Air Cuts China's Crop Yields
Reducing haze-causing pollution should help Chinese farmers increase grain
production—perhaps eliminating China’s demand for grain imports.
One down: A human chromosome sequenced
Chromosome 22 is the first to have its DNA sequence unveiled.
The best Leonid show is yet to
come?
Two astronomers predict that the Leonid meteor shower will be more
dazzling in 2001 and 2002 than it was this year.
Vibrations flit along water’s fast lane
Vibrations in water’s oxygen-hydrogen bonds quickly hop from molecule to
molecule, providing a newfound energy path of possible importance in
chemical reactions and biological processes.
Mutation causes rare gum disease
A mutated gene on chromosome 11 that encodes a protein called cathepsin C
causes a rare, severe form of periodontitis.hort intermission.
Gill net changes can prevent bird drownings
A test of modified fishing nets has revealed ways to make gill nets
friendlier to seabirds.
Gene may alter Ritalin’s effects
in ADHD
Children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder may fail
to benefit from stimulant treatment if they’ve inherited a certain form
of the dopamine transporter gene.
The Killing Fields
What robbed the Americas of their most charismatic mammals?
Humans may have killed off most of the hemisphere’s large mammals at the
end of the last ice age.
Kill the Messenger
Scientists are testing toxins that destroy the nerve cells that
convey pain
A new cell-killing strategy, often called molecular neurosurgery, may one
day help people overcome pain that even morphine and other narcotics can’t
control.
Biology
Weird jaws let tiny snake gulp fast
A unique lower jaw that bends in and out in the middle like a pair of
swinging doors gives a tiny snake an advantage in hunting.
Living insect with eyes like trilobites’
A tiny insect has unique eye structures that may help males find mates
during their 2 hours of adulthood.
Birth control for breakfast, anyone?
Diatoms produce compounds that lower the reproductive success of the tiny
crustaceans that eat them.
Picturing an enzyme that helps DNA unwind
Harboring a variant of the APOE gene seems to place a person at slightly
increased risk of heart problems.
His hair today, hers tomorrow
A woman received a transplant of hair follicles from her husband’s scalp
to her arm, and within 3 weeks, the follicles had taken root and started
producing new hair.
Biomedicine
Antidepressants increase brain steroids
Challenging convention, a study suggests that antidepressants such as
Prozac lift depression by affecting brain-steroid production.
DNA injections fight tumors in mice
Injections of bacterial DNA can abolish or slow the growth of established
tumors in mice.
Materials Science
A bacterium’s silver touch
A metal-munching bacterial strain can synthesize silver-containing
crystals with well-defined compositions and distinct shapes.
Pressuring oxygen to turn red
In a red, high-pressure form of solid oxygen, oxygen molecules pair up
into four-atom units.
Ceramics from segregated polymers
Silicon-containing block copolymers can serve as starting materials in a
simple, versatile process for making thin ceramic films.
Physics
Pushy lasers sweep into ion race
Relatively compact, laser-based accelerators may soon be used in medical
treatments, isotope production, and electronics manufacturing.
Sandpile style: Poured or rained
A curious trait of some sandpiles—that they don’t exert their greatest
pressure under their central peak—can result from the sand having been
poured instead of sprinkled.
