All Stories
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2011 Science News of the Year: Humans
While the Han Chinese (left) don’t show genetic contributions from Denisovans, Australian Aborigines (right) do.BLACKRED/ISTOCKPHOTO; GARY RADLER/ISTOCKPHOTO Asia takes a bow Often overlooked as a geographic player in human evolution, Asia has stepped into the scientific spotlight. New comparisons of ancient and modern DNA indicate that Stone Age humans migrated to Asia in two stages. […]
- Humans
Smells like a bear raid
Analysis of stock trading data suggests an effort to manipulate the market in 2007.
- Psychology
Face deficit holds object lesson
A brain-damaged man yields controversial clues to how people identify complex objects.
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American and Dutch physicists reach new low temperature
Physicists compete in a race to the bottom with a finish line that can never be reached.
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Letters
Thinking probabilistically In the excellent article “Beware the long tail” (SN: 11/5/11, p. 22), the areas under each curve in the figure “Spotting the tail” should be unity (the total probability must be one). Therefore, the red curve should be lower in the center than the black one. Filson Glanz, Durham, N.H. Yes, the area […]
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SN Online
BODY & BRAIN Some U.S. presidents go gray in four years, but they still tend to live longer than average. See “Presidency not a death sentence.” A program in Nepal enlisting motorbike owners as emergency transport saves the lives of people bitten by snakes. Read “Scooters save lives of snakebite victims.” GENES & CELLS Tiny […]
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Science Future for December 31, 2011
January 6–February 17 See five science and nature films on a 90-foot domed screen at the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Omnifest. Visit www.smm.org/omnifest January 19 The St. Louis Science Center hosts a science café event to discuss space travel. See bit.ly/SNsltravel February 4 The Maryland Science Center introduces a hands-on insect exhibit. See bit.ly/SNmdinsect
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Science Past from the issue of December 30, 1961
EARTH AND PLANETS FORMED FROM DUST DRAWN TO SUN — The Earth and all the other planets of the solar system were formed from tiny dust particles accumulating around the sun as it passed through a vast dust cloud in space. This theory on the origin of the solar system was proposed in London by […]
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An Engineer’s Alphabet by Henry Petroski
A selection of quotations, anecdotes and other engineering trivia is arranged into a mini-encyclopedia of the profession. Cambridge Univ., 2011, 360 p., $21.99
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Galileo’s Muse by Mark A. Peterson
A physicist and mathematician argues that Renaissance art spurred the scientific revolution that laid the foundations of modern science. Harvard Univ., 2011, 336 p., $28.95
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Frozen Planet: A World Beyond Imagination by Alastair Fothergill and Vanessa Berlowitz
Journey with four polar denizens — polar bear, Arctic fox, Adélie penguin and wandering albatross — through seasonal changes in this companion to a BBC television series. Firefly Books, 2011, 312 p., $39.95
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The Fossil Chronicles: How Two Controversial Discoveries Changed Our View of Human Evolution by Dean Falk
A scientist who studies brain evolution examines fossil finds — the Taung child and hobbits — that are changing views of human evolution. Univ. of California, 2011, 259 p., $34.95
