More Stories from the March 26, 2011 issue
- Tech
Physics of burrowing sandfish revealed
A new study shows how sandfish lizards swim through Saharan sands, a find that could inspire better burrowing tools for use in the aftermath of disasters.
- Health & Medicine
Cell phones may affect brain metabolism
Activity increases near phones pressed to users' ears, a new study finds.
- Humans
Mafia informants fail acid test
Tests of sulfuric acid on pig carcasses cast doubts on Mafia claims of dissolving murder victims in a matter of minutes.
- Health & Medicine
Tired, sure, but is it from Lyme disease or chronic fatigue?
A scan of proteins in spinal fluid reveals distinct signatures for these two conditions, offering hope for better diagnosis and possibly treatment.
- Earth
Ancient fossil sheds light on early evolution of body armor
A relative of today’s crabs and insects, the 10-legged, 520-million-year-old find may be the earliest known example of its kind with protected, jointed limbs.
- Humans
U.S. probably began global fire ant spread
A genetic study shows that recent international invasions likely originated in the U.S. South, not the species’ native South American range.
- Psychology
Club drug tied to out-of-body sensations
A Canadian survey finds a close link between ketamine and bizarre physical experiences.
- Health & Medicine
How brains guesstimate
Experiments show how the human mind lowballs moving objects’ speed when information is lacking.
- Chemistry
Diamond cousin proposed
Researchers predict a new form of carbon that could, if made, have industrial uses.
- Health & Medicine
Half of adult males carry HPV
Human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted pathogen that can cause cancer, shows up often in men and lingers for months, a study shows.
- Humans
Smelling a rat in a bag of chips
A forensic scientist shares tales from a very special victims unit.
- Space
Sun’s doldrums likely to last
Despite a recent flare, solar physicists project low activity for up to a decade.
- Life
Good gene type for cancer bad for stroke
A DNA variant that helps prevent tumors may diminish the brain’s recovery after an interruption in blood supply.
-
- Space
A bid to implode cosmic ray theory
Streams of fast-moving particles aren’t fueled just by supernovas, a new study suggests.
- Psychology
A man lost in musical time
A man who can’t feel music’s pulse or move in time to it provides initial clues to ‘beat deafness.’
- Space
Stellar wormholes may exist
Tunnels through spacetime would connect pairs of stars, new simulations suggest.
- Chemistry
Molecules/Matter & Energy
Lasers 'draw' nanosized structures, plus twisty turbines and quantum vibrations in this week's news.
-
Science Past from the issue of March 25, 1961
CUT-OFF LIVER KEPT ALIVE — Three surgeons have completely isolated the liver from dogs, and with heart-lung machines have kept the animals and their livers alive for as long as eight hours. They were able to replant the livers in place, rejoin the numerous blood vessel connections and restore the animals to health.… The purpose […]
-
What Are Gamma-Ray Bursts? by Joshua S. Bloom
Buy this book For readers willing to dive into (or skim past) a bit of math, this book surveys the latest research on these mysterious cosmic explosions. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011, 256 p., $27.95.
-
Life in a Shell: A Physiologist’s View of a Turtle by Donald C. Jackson
Buy this book A physiologist shows how shells have helped turtles survive virtually unchanged for 220 million years. Harvard Univ. Press, 2011, 178 p., $29.95.
-
How We Age: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Growing Old by Marc E. Agronin
Buy this book A young doctor reflects on lessons learned about life and medicine as a psychiatrist in a Miami nursing home. Da Capo, 2011, 320 p., $25.
-
The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World by Edward Dolnick
Buy this book This absorbing tale, set in the 17th century, recounts how Isaac Newton and the founders of the Royal Society described the order of the universe. Harper, 2011, 378 p., $27.99.
-
Book Review: Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo by Nicholas de Monchaux
Review by Ron Cowen.
-
-
Basic research generates jobs and competitiveness
Trained as a mechanical engineer in India, Subra Suresh researched the interfaces between engineering, biology and materials science before becoming dean of engineering at MIT and, as of October, director of the U.S. National Science Foundation. In February in Washington, D.C., at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Suresh […]
-
-
Ice in Motion
As frozen lands disintegrate, researchers rush to catch the collapse.
-
Better by Design
Avoiding undesirable traits from the start could help chemists make molecules less meddlesome.
-
Letters
The liver’s carbon fixation The possibility that insects can harness solar energy (SN: 1/15/11, p. 8) is no less fascinating than the ability of the mammalian liver to do the light-independent part of photosynthesis: carbon fixation. When concentrations of the amino acid methionine rise after a high-protein meal, the liver shifts gears to get rid […]
-
Science Future for March 26, 2011
March 28 Discuss nanotechnology at a Seattle Science on Tap event. See http://scienceontap.org April 2–24In Orange County, Calif., see bouncing bubbles, smoking bubbles and more at Discovery Science Center’s Bubblefest. Go to www.discoverycube.org April 7 Chemists make molecular magic at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, N.C. See www.ncmls.org/visit/events
-
Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide (The Animal Answer Guides: Q&A for the Curious Naturalist) by Susan Lumpkin and John Seidensticker
Buy this book Learn little-known facts about the familiar animals, whose 90 species include several of the world’s most endangered. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2011, 235 p., $24.95.
