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Erosion: Dustup over Muddy Waters
Data back to the 1930s show that erosion has declined markedly in one of the
best-studied agricultural watersheds in the United States.
And now there are two striped rabbits
The world now has two species of rabbits with bold stripes—one
rediscovered in Sumatra and a new one found near the border between Vietnam
and Laos.
Gene makes fetal skin become watertight
Just before birth, skin becomes able to retain body water, so understanding
the newly discovered gene behind that process may one day help premature
human infants survive.
Kansas cuts evolution from curriculum
The Kansas Board of Education voted to remove evolution from the state’s
required curriculum, leaving scientists and science teachers fearful for
students’ futures.
Taking temperatures of nuclear transitions
A new way of probing the low-energy regime of the nucleus shows step-by-step
decay of internal order.
Warmth switches on a polymer’s
tackiness
Adhesive bandages and tennis-racket grips could make use of a polymer whose
stickiness can be controlled by temperature.
Schizophrenia caregivers take health
hit
Caring for a mentally ill relative appears, under some circumstances, to
render caregivers more susceptible to infectious illnesses.
Synthetic drug slows glaucoma in rats
A synthetic drug that neutralizes an enzyme slows nerve damage in the eyes
of rats with glaucoma.
Travelin’ Light
Sailing through the solar system...and beyond
Using the gentle but persistent pressure from sunlight bouncing off a highly
reflective sail, spacecraft of the not-too-distant future may glide through
the solar system and into interstellar space.
Twirl Those Organs into Place
Getting to the heart of how a heart knows left from right
The motion of hairlike structures inside a growing embryo may guide the
placement of our internal organs.
Biology
When sharks just open wide and say yum
Rather than living on the knife-edge of starvation, basking sharks may
require less food than scientists had calculated.
Skunk cabbage has on
At some air temperatures, a skunk cabbage warms its blooms to accommodate
pollinators.
Tea time for T cells
A subset of immune cells recognizes molecules found in tea and the
secretions of bacteria, so scientists have begun to examine whether tea
drinking bolsters immunity.
A BlySful way to stimulate B cells
A protein called BlyS stimulates immune cells to make antibodies.
Patently unpatentable
The U.S. patent office has rejected a broad patent on the creation of
human-animal chimeras.
Chemistry
Medicinal waters: Where ibuprofen goes
Swiss chemists found that unlike some other water-polluting drugs, ibuprofen
breaks down in waste-treatment plants.
Wild spurges make risky houseplants
Some wild spurges, poinsettia relatives, contain skin-penetrating chemicals
that can promote the growth of tumors.
Materials Science
Pillars of the thin-film community
Thin films with unusual microstructures could serve as sensors, magnetic
recording media, or flat-panel displays.
