Science News / June 23rd, 2007

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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

June 23rd, 2007

Crossing the Line: Technique could treat brain diseases

With the help of a molecule from the rabies virus, scientists have for the first time selectively ferried a drug across the blood-brain barrier to treat a neurological disease in mice. (p. 387)
Mapping a Medusa: The Internet spreads its tentacles

After tracking how digital information weaves around the world, researchers have concluded that, structurally speaking, the Internet looks like a medusa jellyfish. (p. 387)
Warning Sign: River blindness parasite shows resistance

The parasitic worm that causes river blindness seems to be developing resistance to the only drug that controls it. (p. 388)
Winged dragon

A quarry on the Virginia–North Carolina border has yielded fossils of an unusual gliding reptile that lived in the region about 220 million years ago. (p. 388)
Needling Cells: Stem cells could take their cues from silicon nanowires

Scientists have grown mouse stem cells on a bed of silicon nano-needles, hoping that they will be able to guide the cells' development through electrical stimulation. (p. 388)
Beyond Ethanol: Synthetic fuel offers promising alternative

A faster, simpler manufacturing technique could make a synthetic biofuel into an even stronger competitor to ethanol. (p. 389)
Jurassic CSI: Fossils indicate central nervous system damage

Fossils found in the head-thrown-back position, the so-called "dead bird" pose, probably died from central nervous system damage. (p. 390)
Profiles in Courtship: Flirting male fish show their best sides

Courting male guppies that sport a tad more orange on one side of their bodies than on the other tend to flash that brighter side at females. (p. 390)
Storm Center

Scientists aboard planes that flew into the cores of Katrina and other hurricanes in 2005 collected unprecedented data on the structure and development of the massive storms. (p. 392)
Stents Stumble

After a meteoric rise, stents coated with drugs to prevent renarrowing of clogged arteries have begun to fall from favor among cardiologists. (p. 394)
Diabetes drug might hike heart risk

People who take rosiglitazone, a popular diabetes drug marketed as Avandia, may face an increased risk of heart attack. (p. 397)
Ancient beads found in northern Africa

Perforated shells found in a Moroccan cave indicate that northern Africans made symbolic body ornaments 82,000 years ago, long before Europeans did. (p. 397)
Moths mimic 'Don't eat me' sounds

Moths that make clicking noises at predatory bats are mimicking a defensive signal made by other moths that click and also taste bad. (p. 397)
Tree rings tell tale of megadroughts

Tree rings in ancient timber show that the Colorado Plateau experienced a 60-year drought in the 12th century. (p. 397)
Heal thyself—again and again

A new self-healing material can repeatedly repair damage at the same spot. (p. 398)
Clownfish noisemaker is new to science

Clownfish make "pop-pop-pop" noises at each other by clacking their teeth together in a novel way. (p. 398)
New player in cancer risk

RNA snippets of a newly discovered type could be involved in the mechanisms of cancer. (p. 398)
Fluorine highlights early tumors

Microscopic, fluorine-packed particles can make small, cancerous growths easier to detect. (p. 398)
Letters from the June 23, 2007, issue of Science News

(p. 399)

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: