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Science Friday
September 13th, 2008
issue

  • Potent Promise: Essential Stemness
    Scientists move closer to understanding the dual fates of embryonic stem cells — to divide or develop
  • Potent Promise: Back to the Womb
    Reverting adult cells to an embryonic state without creating embryos is a tricky business (p. 16)
  • It’s Likely That Times Are Changing
    A century ago, mathematician Hermann Minkowski famously merged space with time, establishing a new foundation for physics; today physicists are rethinking how the two should fit together
  • Heart to heart
    Successful heart transplant experiment in infants draws attention to debate on defining death of organ donors.
  • FBI reveals more details of anthrax investigation
    A panel of scientists involved in the anthrax investigations released new details.
  • Carcinogens from car exhaust can linger
    Free radicals similar to those in cigarette smoke may form when car exhaust cools off, and may persist indefinitely in the air.
  • I, Magpie
    Some magpies recognize themselves in mirrors, indicating that a basic form of self-recognition evolved in one family of birds.
  • Slave ants rebel
    Species vulnerable to enslavement may evolve ways to fight their captors.
  • Dopamine fends off zzzzz’s
    A reward chemical in the brain helps keep sleep-deprived people awake. (p. 11)
  • Stars ablaze in other skies
    A new study suggests that a surprising number of universes, even those with laws of physics different from those in our universe, can still support stars.
  • Tiny object points to remote solar system reservoir
    Possible comet may be distant visitor from the innermost region of the Oort Cloud, the proposed comet reservoir of the outermost solar system.
  • Firm evidence that Earth’s core is solid
    Faint yet distinct ground motions recorded by a large network of seismic instruments in Japan in early 2006 are the strongest, most direct evidence that Earth’s inner core is solid. (p. 14)
  • Compass creatures
    Herds of grazing and resting deer and cattle tend to align themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field, a hint that the large mammals can somehow sense the invisible field.
  • Popular plastics chemical poses further threat
    The chemical bisphenol A may raise the risk of heart attacks and type 2 diabetes by suppressing a protective hormone.
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Science & the Public H1N1: Call to revise flu-mask policy
 By Janet Raloff Nov 6th 2009
Undeclared
On the Scene A little bit of gamma-ray music
 By Science News Staff Nov 5th 2009
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Vigdor Teplitz
Comment NATO committee fosters science’s role in security
By Vigdor Teplitz Nov 6th 2009
Julie Rehmeyer
Math Trek The four color problem gets a sharp new hue
 By Julie Rehmeyer Mar 6th 2009
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SN Special: The Science of Slumber
Interview: Murray Gell-Mann
SN Special: Darwin Turns 200
2008: Science News of the Year
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