Science News / May 17th, 2003

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In This Issue

Sequencing the dead to save the living: Reviving ancient genomes of long-extinct creatures offers a window into past extinctions—and may help prevent future die outs
No gene is an island: Even as biologists catalog the discrete parts of life forms, an emerging picture reveals that life’s functions arise from interconnectedness
The decider: Informing the debate over the reality of ‘free will’ requires learning something about the lateral habenula
This week's table of contents

May 17th, 2003

Stone Age Genetics: Ancient DNA enters humanity's heritage

Genetic material extracted from the bones of European Stone Age Homo sapiens, sometimes called Cro-Magnons, bolsters the theory that people evolved independently of Neandertals. (p. 307)
Going Down? Probe could ride to Earth's core in a mass of molten iron

A geophysicist suggests that scientists could explore Earth's inner structure by sending a grapefruit-size probe on a week-long mission to the Earth's core inside a crust-busting mass of molten iron. (p. 307)
Columbia Disaster Working Hypothesis: Wing hit by debris

The independent board investigating the breakup of the space shuttle presented its first detailed account of what might have caused the Feb. 1 disaster. (p. 308)
Gypsy Secret: Children of sea see clearly underwater

Children who regularly dive to collect food have better-than-normal underwater vision because their eyes adapt to the liquid environment. (p. 308)
Melt-Resistant Metals: Carbon coating keeps atoms in order

Shrink-wrapped in carbon, nanoscale metal chunks melt at extraordinarily high temperatures, suggesting carbon coatings as a route to higher heat resistance for materials and devices. (p. 309)
Bone Builder: New drug could heal hard-to-mend fractures

A synthetic compound can heal broken bones that are so damaged they don't knit on their own, a study in rats and dogs shows. (p. 309)
Diamond in the rough

Researchers have found a collection of previously undiscovered diamondlike compounds in oil. (p. 310)
Troubling Treat: Guam mystery disease from bat entrée?

A famous unsolved medical puzzle of why a neurological disease spiked on Guam may hinge on the local tradition of serving boiled bat. (p. 310)
Plastic Electric

Scientists are finding new ways to improve the molecular order and electrical conductivity of a commercially important conducting plastic. (p. 312)
Patterns from Nowhere

Scientists are developing geophysical models that may explain the polygonal patterns that appear in and on the ground in remote regions of the Arctic, Antarctica, and possibly the surface of Mars. (p. 314)
Supernovas, gamma-ray bursts: Two of a kind?

Astronomers have uncovered direct evidence that gamma-ray bursts are linked to supernovas. (p. 317)
Ancient wood points to arctic greenhouse

Chemical analyses of wood that grew in an ancient arctic forest suggest that the air there once was about twice as humid as it is now. (p. 317)
A black hole that goes the distance

Astronomers have measured the mass of the most distant black hole known. (p. 317)
Fecal glow could improve meat safety

Workers who process animal carcasses into meat might soon use a novel type of laser scanner to identify products that have been contaminated with feces. (p. 317)
Sea burial for Canada's cod fisheries

The Canadian government has declared an end to cod fishing in nearly all of the country’s Atlantic waters. (p. 318)
Boosting the TB vaccine

A new vaccine for tuberculosis outperforms the current one in tests on animals. (p. 318)
Drug smugglers leave cellular tracks

Imaging reveals where some experimental nanoscale capsules ferry drugs when they enter cells. (p. 318)
Zeolites get an organic makeover

Scientists can now incorporate organic groups into the framework of zeolites, a kind of inorganic crystal. (p. 318)

Blogs:

Science & the Public Is Your Fish Oil Polluted?
By Janet Raloff Nov 20th 2008

Columns:

Comment Debates over definition of planet continue and inspire
By Alan Stern Nov 21st 2008

Math Trek How to (really) trust a mathematical proof
By Julie Rehmeyer
Mathematicians develop computer proof-checking systems in order to realize century-old dreams of fully precise, accurate mathematics. Nov 14th 2008

Bulletin Board: