Climate Sleuths at the Top of the World

Cover: A Canadian ship recently spent a year trapped amid Arctic sea ice, providing a base from which researchers could probe the ocean below and the skies above. The findings from this expedition and previous studies indicate that the Arctic climate is rapidly changing, perhaps as a result of greenhouse warming. (Photo: University of Washington)

Prospects Dim for Live AIDS Vaccine
A live AIDS vaccine missing pieces of three key genes causes the simian form of the disease in monkeys, casting doubt on the prospect of using such an attenuated vaccine against HIV in humans.

Fake sperm fool female butterflies
A butterfly's infertile sperm may serve to bulk up the contents of a female's storage organ and thus discourage remating.

Bacteria under ice: Some don't like it hot
Colonies of microbes have been found thriving under Swiss glaciers, opening up new possibilities for finding life on other planets.

Lab-grown bladders prove a success in dogs
Using a dog's own cells, researchers have created an artificial organ and successfully transplanted it into the animal, allowing the return of bladder control.

Depression proves risky for ill hearts
Women who become depressed after surviving a heart attack exhibit the same increased likelihood of dying over the next year as their male counterparts.

Tiny turnstile spits out solo photons
A new type of electro-optical device releases photon one by one at timed intervals.

Supersonic defects have the right stuff
Computer simulations indicate that defects can spread through a metal faster than the speed of sound.

Feds plan battle against aliens
President Clinton signed an executive order to coordinate the federal fight against non-native invasive species.

No beginning in sight for star formation
As far back in the early universe as astronomers can see, the cosmos was churning out stars at a prodigious rate.

AAAS

Viruses—just a flush away?
Fecal viruses flushed into septic tanks or related waste systems near coasts can enter seawater within a day.

Why old immune systems gets creaky
T cells in older people are especially sensitive to a self-destruct message, perhaps a clue to why the immune system loses its zip as a person ages.

Earth Science

Did El Niño make societies bloom?
The appearance of El Niño 5,000 years ago correlates with the growth of more complex societies in Peru.

Global warming: No urban myth
Even rural weather stations show increasing temperatures around the world.

Technology

Chip uses less DNA and decodes quicker
A new microchip can accelerate DNA fingerprinting a hundredfold while using only a millionth as much genetic material as conventional methods do.

Yellow light warns of nerve-gas peril
A prototype sensor based on a luminescent polymer detects nerve gases such as sarin with high sensitivity and unprecedented selectivity.

Sea Change in the Arctic
An oceanful of clues points to climatic warming in the far North
Scientists are trying to determine why the Arctic's summertime sea ice has been retreating.

Pain, Pain, Go Away
Snipping a nerve pathway in the spinal cord can bring instant relief
A new surgical technique might aid people afflicted with persistent pelvic pain.

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