All Stories
- Earth
Energy-Saving Stars
This Web site documents progress in a program set up by the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency to encourage companies to reduce the energy consumed by their products. More than 3,000 companies have participated in efforts to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and lower energy costs for consumers. Site visitors can find […]
- Planetary Science
Red Planet
The imaging team of NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has doubled the number of Mars pictures available to the public with the release of a new archive of photos. The archive contains all the pictures that were taken by Mars Global Surveyor from September 1999 through February 2000 and includes the images that were taken […]
- Physics
Origins at CERN
Starting on Nov. 11, the Exploratorium in San Francisco begins a series of Webcasts taking viewers to research laboratories around the world where scientists are investigating the origins of matter, the universe, Earth, and life itself. The first programs come from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, location of the world’s […]
- Humans
From the October 18, 1930, issue
alt=”Click to view larger image”> ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND PATIENT PERUVIAN SURGEONS LOST One of the most interesting of the many ancient skulls that have been brought out of Peru bears what is probably the earliest known gauze compress–certainly the earliest surgical dressing of the kind that has been discovered on this continent. The bold cranial surgery […]
- Math
Math on Stamps
Jeff Miller, a mathematics teacher in Florida, has assembled an amazing collection of images featuring mathematicians and mathematical ideas or events on postage stamps. Check out your favorites, from Niels Henrik Abel to Stanislaw Zaremba. Go to: http://jeff560.tripod.com/.
- Earth
Composted sewage captures dirt’s lead
Lead-contaminated soil in urban parks, gardens, and schoolyards could be made safer by adding composted organic waste.
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Uncertainty fires up some neurons
In monkeys, a small set of brain cells that transmit the chemical messenger dopamine to various neural destinations works as an uncertainty meter.
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After West Nile Virus
As biologists try to estimate the impact of West Nile virus on wildlife, it's not the famously susceptible crows that are causing alarm but much rarer species.
- Earth
When do EMFs disturb the heart?
Whether electromagnetic fields can blunt the healthy variability in heart rate may depend on an exposed individual being aroused or stressed during exposure.
- Earth
Methylmercury’s toxic toll
More than 60,000 children are born each year with neurodevelopmental impairments due to their prenatal exposure to methylmercury.
- Earth
China: A mercury megapolluter
China's heavy reliance on coal burning makes it a world leader in mercury air pollution.
- Earth
Living routes to toxic routs
Scientists are developing novel techniques for removing perchlorate, a potentially carcinogenic pollutant, from water.
