Science News / January 15th, 2005

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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

January 15th, 2005

Ultimate Retro: Modern echoes of the early universe

Two teams of astronomers have for the first time detected the surviving notes of a cosmic symphony created just after the Big Bang, when the universe was a foggy soup of matter and radiation. (p. 35)
When Laziness Pays: Math explains how cooperation and cheating evolve

Researchers have developed a mathematical model that helps explain how cooperation and cheating evolve among simple organisms. (p. 35)
Reptilian Repast: Ancient mammals preyed on young dinosaurs

Two nearly complete sets of fossilized remains from 130-million-year-old rocks are revealing fresh details about the size and dietary habits of ancient mammals, hinting that some of these creatures were large enough to feast on small dinosaurs. (p. 36)
Hands-on Math Insights: Teachers' mismatched gestures boost learning

As teachers instruct a child, they typically use their hands as well as their voices, but only certain gestures pack a powerful educational punch. (p. 36)
Not to Your Health: New mechanism proposed for alcohol-related tumors

New findings suggest that alcohol encourages blood vessels to invade tumors, supplying nutrients that promote tumor growth. (p. 37)
Living in a Fog: Secondhand smoke may dull kids' wits

Millions of U.S. children may have reading deficits because of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. (p. 37)
Crow Tools: Hatched to putter

The New Caledonian crow is the first vertebrate to be shown definitively to have an innate tendency to make and use tools, according to researchers who doubled as bird nannies. (p. 38)
Phage Attack: Antibacterial virus might suppress cholera

Bacteria-attacking viruses that infect bacteria hold cholera bacteria in check throughout most of the year except during the rainy season when these viruses become diluted. (p. 38)
Proteins in the Stretch

Scientists are for the first time getting a feel for how proteins fold and unfold. (p. 40)
Palm-Nut Problem

The ancient custom of chewing areca nuts is getting more popular as young Asians take up the habit, but betel-nut chewing has been linked to several types of oral cancer. (p. 43)
Seismic vibes gauge Earth's crust

New seismic observations are adding to scientists' knowledge of the thickness of Earth's crust, especially in the Southern Hemisphere. (p. 45)
Big quakes can free grounded icebergs

Data gathered by equipment installed on an immense iceberg off Antarctica suggest that the ground motions spawned by large, distant earthquakes can free such bergs to float again. (p. 45)
Landscaping stones may pose risks to the environment

Chemical analyses suggest that planting ornamental rock gardens in some cases may not be doing the environment any favors. (p. 45)
Really hot water

Hot-water tanks can accumulate radioactive deposits from naturally occurring radioactive material. (p. 46)
Sparrows learn song from pieces

Young white-crowned sparrows don't have to hear a song straight through in order to learn it; playing the song in mixed-up paired phrases will do. (p. 46)
Antibiotics could save nerves

Penicillin and its family of related antibiotics may prevent the type of nerve damage that occurs in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other diseases. (p. 46)
Letters from the January 15, 2005, issue of Science News

(p. 47)

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: