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Contents
- Mystery Meteorite: The case for (and against) a rock from Mercury
- Hard Times for Theorists in a Post-Higgs World: The Large Hadron Collider’s big success leaves no clear avenue for new physics
- In the Eye of the Tiger: Global spread of Asian tiger mosquito could fuel outbreaks of tropical disease in temperate regions
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Contents
- Infection time: Disease is more severe when it hits in the morning, at least in mice
- Explainer: Our bodies’ internal clocks: Biological clocks determine hunger, sleepiness and other daily rhythms
- Flu in the air: Germs tiny enough to pass through surgical masks may cause half of all cases
Web edition: January 29, 2010
Print edition: February 13, 2010; Vol.177 #4 (p. 4)
DISCOVERY ADDS CLUES TO COMPOSITION OF LIGNIN — The sugar glucose is part of the answer to a biochemical riddle — the exact composition of lignin. Lignin, which together with cellulose comprises wood, is a highly complex carbohydrate whose complete structure is unknown. It is considered a waste product.... Experiments … have shown that in Norway spruce trees the lignin is derived from glucose. The discovery was made by feeding the trees with radioactive glucose.… By studying where the radioactivity was located in the lignin the scientists were able to find how the glucose molecules were converted into these units…. They may some day be able to find as many uses for lignin as they have for cellulose.
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