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Special Sleep Issue : PDF Download page
All files are saved as PDFs. Please download Adobe’s Acrobat Reader to view these files. Sleep Special : Complete PackageHigh Quality (17MB) | Low Quality (2MB) The Why of sleep (Tina Hesman Saey) / All Kinds of Tired (Susan Milius)High Quality (6.7MB) | Low Quality (1.1MB) Sleep gone awry (Laura Sanders)High Quality (2.5MB) | Low […]
By Science News - Astronomy
A Cosmic Crisis?
Astronomers appear to have a heavenly crisis on their hands, and it concerns material they can't even detect.
By Ron Cowen - Physics
Constant Changes
Evidence from the early universe that one of the so-called constants of nature, known as alpha, was once slightly smaller than it is today hints that the laws of physics themselves may vary over time and space.
By Peter Weiss - Earth
Ill Winds
Research suggests that the long-range movement of dust can sicken wildlife, crops—even humans—a continent away.
By Janet Raloff -
Joined at the Senses
As evidence accumulates for the existence of brain cells that handle many types of sensory information, some scientists challenge the popular notion that perception is grounded in five separate senses.
By Bruce Bower - Earth
Dust, the Thermostat
Analyses suggest that dust has profound, complex, and far-reaching effects on the planet's climate.
By Sid Perkins - Astronomy
When Branes Collide
A controversial new theory proposes that our universe existed as a cold, featureless void for eons, until a parallel universe floating through a hidden fifth dimension crashed into it, igniting the Big Bang.
By Ron Cowen - Animals
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!
Hungry chicks cheeping in their nest have inspired a whole branch of scientific inquiry.
By Susan Milius -
- Animals
Social Cats
Who says cats aren't social? And other musings from scientists who study cats in groups.
By Susan Milius - Chemistry
Faster, Better, Cleaner?
Chemists have found that a new class of compounds, called ionic liquids, can substitute for widely used, messy organic solvents while also performing better and producing new products of interest to industry.
- Health & Medicine
Immunity’s Eyes
Proteins called toll-like receptors allow human immune cells to detect microbes.
By John Travis