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Waterways Carry Antibiotic Resistance
U.S. waterways have become a major reservoir of bacteria that are resistant
to the most widely used antibiotics and can spread to wildlife and people.
Cocaine use boosts heart-attack risk
Cocaine users' risk of a heart attack is dramatically heightened in
the first hour after they take the drug.
Canola could provide a new fat
on the farm
Fat from genetically engineered canola plants can be a healthier substitute
for the processed oil found in margarine, chocolate, and baked goods.
Powdered platinum sheds all resistance
Platinum finally joins the ranks of superconductors after physicists
found that it loses all electrical resistance when extremely cold, but
only if it is in powdered form.
One injured nerve fiber heals another
Severing nerve fibers in the body's periphery stimulates repair of related
fibers within the spinal cord, which suggests a new strategy for treating
injuries.
Depressed smokers ride immune downer
Moderate cigarette smokers who suffer from major depression may experience
an immune-function disruption linked to cancer development.
Sex ratios: Bad times wallop extra sons
Decades of deer-watching on the Isle of Rum reveals a quirk of sex ratios
that may explain why a famous biological hypothesis has been so hard
to prove.
Rooting out dormant HIV-infected cells
The immune protein interleukin-2, coupled with standard anti-AIDS drugs,
appears to flush immune cells harboring latent HIV out of hiding and
open the virus to attack.
When Stones Come to Life
Researchers ponder the curious human tendency to view all sorts
of things as alive
The widespread tendency to attribute life to all sorts of objects and
events may arise in the course of forming close relationships with features
of one's environment.
The Search for Animal Inventors
How innovative are other species?
Researchers studying animals' capacity to innovate are focusing on birds
and—we are not making this up—guppies.
Behavior
Sounds like dyslexia
Disturbances in the brain's ability to perceive sounds may contribute
to many cases of lifelong reading difficulties.
Feeling better with fish oil
Omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish oils show promise for treating
manic depression.
Computers
Factoring with a TWINKLE
A proposed optoelectronic device promises to speed up factoring, potentially
threatening the security of certain uses of an encryption system widely
employed on the Internet.
Data storage on a global scale
Preserving electronic data may require storing archival material on
the Internet in such a way that it can be recreated even if as many
as half of the participating computers are destroyed.
Materials Science
Nanotube strips deliver muscle power
An artificial muscle made of carbon nanotubes could be used in robots,
aircraft control systems, and sensors.
A new route to a superhard material?
Calculations show that squeezing a soft polymer could turn it into beta-carbon
nitride, a material thought to be harder than diamond.
Science & Society
Nuclear secrets: What's been stolen?
A congressional investigation found evidence that lax security by federal
agencies, especially the Department of Energy, allowed the Chinese government
to access secret data on all nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal.
DOE responds to Cox report's charges
The Energy Department announced it has put sweeping new counterintelligence
programs in place to stem the theft of weapons secrets from its national
laboratories.
