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Ocean Fever Heralds African Epidemics
Scientists, using measurements of Indian and Pacific Ocean temperatures,
have developed a strategy for predicting when East Africa will suffer
from epidemics of Rift Valley fever.
Immune blockade impedes blood
poisoning
The deactivation of certain white blood cells that makes sepsis such
a deadly disease is reversed in rats given a novel antibody.
New ingredient completes marrow recipe
Researchers have successfully cultivated blood stem cells—the cells
that give rise to all blood cells—over a long period in the laboratory
for the first time.
Death risk drives shocking love songs
The need to escape predators may have driven the growing complexity
of the pulses and waves emitted by electric fish.
High-speed solar wind surfs magnetic waves
The high-speed component of the solar wind may get its oomph by hitching
a ride on magnetic waves in the sun's outer atmosphere.
Vibrating grains form floating clumps
A new rocket-borne microgravity experiment shows that granular materials
that are shaken into a cloud in a closed box can spontaneously gather
into motionless lumps.
Giving mast cells their proper respect
Allergy-causing immune cells called mast cells may serve a good purpose
by directly recognizing infectious bacteria and alerting the body.
Memory may go to pieces in schizophrenia
People suffering from schizophrenia may remember personal experiences
in confusing fragments of information rather than as cohesive events.
The color of vitamin A
A single-gene mutation that turned cauliflower orange may hold the key
to enriching other plant foods with beta-carotene, a potent antioxidant.
Africa's Latest Scourge
A flesh-devouring bacterium begins to reveal its secrets
Scientists know little about the microbe that causes Buruli ulcer, and
there's no proven drug treatment for it.
Does Practice Make Perfect?
The benefits of busy hospitals
Patients with ailments ranging from heart attacks to AIDS tend to do
better at hospitals that treat higher numbers of patients with such
ailments, though it's not clear why.
Astronomy
Watery prospects: Shoot the moon
Astronomers are hoping that Lunar Prospector will end its mission on
July 31 with a splash, crashing into a lunar crater suspected of harboring
frozen water.
Biology
Dyeing to find muscle stem cells
Identifying muscle precursor cells by using a dye may eventually help
physicians treat muscular dystrophy.
A surprising tale of a frog's tail
Scientists begin to tease out how tadpoles' tails disappear, or are
resorbed, during metamorphosis into frogs.
Africanized bees make better shoppers
One of the reasons Africanized bees spread so fast may be that their
foragers work harder than European bees and gather more pollen than
nectar.
Do monkeys check each others' blues?
Male vervet monkeys may use the shade of blue on another male's scrotum
as a clue to status.
Show-off crickets have a shy side
Male crickets that sing risky, extended serenades—attracting predators
as well as mates—may compensate with a cautious streak.
Biomedicine
Is beauty more than meets the eye?
Where a woman is in her menstrual cycle may help determine the features
she finds attractive in a male face.
Pesticide exposure begins early
Contaminants from pesticides and industrial chemicals can be found in
the amniotic fluid surrounding as many as a third of unborn babies.
