Science News / December 9th, 2006

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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

December 9th, 2006

Ebola Die-Off: Gorilla losses tallied in central Africa

Between 2001 and 2005, Ebola virus killed at least 5,500 lowland gorillas in the Republic of the Congo. (p. 371)
Bitter Pill: Costs surge for new schizophrenia drugs

Medications widely prescribed to treat schizophrenia cost hundreds of dollars more each month than does a less popular, older medication that has similar success at alleviating symptoms of the disorder. (p. 371)
Woods to Waters: Wildfires amplify mercury contamination in fish

Forest fires mobilize mercury from the soil and can send the toxic metal into nearby streams and lakes where it accumulates in fish. (p. 372)
Going Native: Diverse grassland plants edge out crops as biofuel

Biofuels made from mixtures of plants native to prairies can yield more net energy than do biofuels derived from corn and soybeans. (p. 372)
Lunar Outpost: NASA unveils plans for a return to the moon

NASA announced that it would begin in 2020 to assemble a human outpost on the moon. (p. 373)
Extreme Tongue: Bat excels at saying 'Aah'

The new champion among mammals at sticking out its tongue is a small bat from Ecuador. (p. 373)
Dim Harvest: Asian air pollution has limited rice yields

Thick clouds of air pollution over southern Asia and increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere worldwide have reduced rice harvests in India for the past 2 decades. (p. 374)
Milk Therapy

Breast milk has long been known to be the best food for babies, but compounds in breast milk promise to be a tonic for many adult ills as well. (p. 376)
The Predator's Gaze

A new wave of research is trying to untangle the origins and nature of psychopathy, a personality style characterized by a lack of conscience, empathy, or guilt that attracts intense interest from the legal system. (p. 379)
Indian men are prone to insulin resistance

Men from India are more likely than those in other large ethnic groups to have a condition that predisposes them to adult-onset diabetes. (p. 381)
Pain type matters to brain

Chronic back pain affects different parts of the brain than acute back pain does, magnetic resonance images reveal. (p. 381)
So long, Surveyor

After 8 years of relaying pictures, topographic maps, magnetic field data, and compositional information from above the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft appears to have called it quits. (p. 382)
Leggy lizards adapt fast

In response to a new predator, lizards on several Caribbean islands underwent selection first for long legs and then for short legs. (p. 382)
Wheat gone wild

Researchers have identified a gene responsible for boosting the protein, iron, and zinc content of some varieties of wild wheat by 10 to 15 percent. (p. 382)
Together and apart

Chemists report the first chemical reaction that can split apart and recombine the two atoms in molecular hydrogen without using an expensive metal catalyst. (p. 382)
Letters from the December 9, 2006, issue of Science News

(p. 383)

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: