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Did Life Begin at the Bottom? January
9, 1999 | Volume 155 | Number 2
Cover: Giant tube worms sway in the hot brines spewing out of a seafloor geyser.
Discovery of such vent creatures 20 years ago sparked the notion that chemicals in the
brines could have spawned life on Earth. Recent laboratory experiments indicate that this
controversial theory may be right. (Photo: NOAA)
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Hubble Eyes Signs of Nearby Planets
Hubble's infrared camera has spied
evidence of planets around three nearby, young stars.
Ancient people sparked die-offs down under
By setting fires, humans may have
killed off all the large Australian animals 50,000 years ago.
This year, resolve to fidget more
People appear to fidget more when
they overeat, and those who stay lean despite over-indulging may fidget the most, burning
off calories.
Treatment blocks sites for dental bacteria
A synthetic protein keeps teeth free
of a cavity-causing bacterium for at least 3 months.
Hormone helps ring internal alarm clock
People who can reliably wake up at a
time they select may be depending on a hormone boost as their internal alarm clock.
Formaldehyde: Some surprises at home
A new study finds that many products
used in the home—including resin-based floor finishes and unwashed permanent-press
fabrics—can emit unexpectedly high amounts of formaldehyde, which is a respiratory
irritant and suspected carcinogen.
Young plants prepare to see the light
Researchers describe unexpected
biochemical steps that allow seedlings to burst out of the ground without any ray-catching
chlorophyll but still start using light.
Fossil ape's grasp gets two thumbs way up
A fossil ape that lived at least 7
million years ago may have been capable of using its hands and fingers in strikingly
humanlike ways.
Astronomy
More evidence for a flat cosmos
Observing tiny fluctuations in the
whisper of radiation left over from the Big Bang, astronomers have found additional
evidence that any curvature to time-space was stretched flat by the universe's early
expansion.
Sun storm squeezes Earth's ionosphere
A spacecraft has gathered the first
direct evidence that a storm originating from the sun can squeeze Earth's ionosphere,
ejecting charged particles from the planet's upper atmosphere into space.
Biology
Where have all the red grouse gone?
A parasitic worm is the culprit in
the long-standing mystery of why red grouse populations crash every 4 to 8 years in
England and Scotland.
Lobsters remember winners and losers
Male lobsters can recognize another
male that they had dueled and remember who won—perhaps a key ability for maintaining
a pecking order.
Old West has fastest tree border yet
Using old aerial photographs,
researchers have documented the most rapid climate-caused shift on record for a forest
border-a change of 2 kilometers in less than 5 years.
Computers
Data sorting for electronic noses
A data classification scheme modeled
on the way people visually group objects into clusters helps a chemical sensor system
detect noxious vapors.
Life's First Scalding Steps
Biology might have begun in cauldrons at the bottom of the sea
Harsh undersea vent conditions can
foster some of the chemical steps thought necessary for early life.
To Bead or Not to Bead
That is the question when researchers make ultrathin coatings
Physicists are investigating the
spontaneous break-up of ultrathin liquid films, which may spell trouble for high
technology that is becoming reliant on thinner and thinner coatings.
Letters: A Selection from Letters to the Editor
Science Safari
