All Stories

  1. Animals

    Flight burns less fuel than stopovers

    The first measurements of energy use in migrating songbirds confirms that birds burn more energy during stopovers along the way than during their total flying time.

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  2. Humans

    From the July 8, 1933, issue

    THE NYMPHS’ FLOWER Serene, cool, immaculate, the water lily floats beneath the summer sun, where the big flat drops of water shine like silver coins on the round, flat leaves. The water lily has been the delight of poets of all ages and peoples. Of moralists, too, who like to reflect that all that superb […]

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  3. Astronomy

    Strange Matter

    What’s materials science? This engaging Web site for kids of all ages introduces “the study of stuff.” It describes how materials fit into different categories and provides accounts of what materials scientists do. Games and activities require a browser with a Flash plug-in. Go to: http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/

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  4. 19261

    This article raised so many questions. Do children who play in the dirt get their increased immune resistance from phages in the dirt? Is there a phage connection in the AIDS story? Does the risk of dying of heart attacks have a phage connection? If so, is group A Streptococcus involved? Do we need a […]

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  5. Life

    All the World’s a Phage

    There are an amazing number of bacteriophages—viruses that kill bacteria—in the world.

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  6. 19036

    Regarding the article on udder tampering in livestock competitions, it’s sad that the push for easy success is so pervasive. Although colleges and universities receiving federal research funds must require research-ethics education of their students, I don’t see an impact on plagiarism. How might we encourage future generations of students in all disciplines to internalize […]

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  7. Humans

    Udder Beauty

    Sophisticated screening of livestock championship winners may become as common as urine tests of Olympic athletes.

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  8. Math

    Alphamagic Squares

    Magic squares have fascinated people for thousands of years. They consist of a set of whole numbers arranged in a square so that the sum of the numbers is the same in each row, in each column, and along each diagonal. Some magic squares have special properties, such as using only consecutive numbers. In ancient […]

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Epilepsy drug eases diabetes woes

    The epilepsy drug topiramate relieves pain, seems to initiate nerve repair, aids weight loss, and may have other benefits for persons with diabetes.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Strict regimen pays off years later

    Diabetes patients who adhered to a strict program of blood sugar control over nearly 7 years starting in the 1980s are still showing heart benefits.

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  11. Humans

    Tobacco treaty penned

    Just one day after the World Health Organization drafted a tobacco-control treaty, more than 28 nations signed on.

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  12. Physics

    Magnetic current flows solo

    By exploiting quantum mechanical interactions, physicists have generated glows of the magnetic fields of electrons without corresponding flows of their electric charges.

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