Notebook
- Agriculture
Switchgrass Science
A native prairie grass shows promise as a substitute for corn in the production of fuel ethanol—an additive to stretch fossil-fuel resources for transportation. University of Tennessee researchers have produced a video on the science and prospects of switchgrass ethanol that is available in a 26-minute version and an abbreviated form. For those who don’t […]
- Humans
From the March 5, 1938, issue
Shoes that give silent testimony for safety measures, ten moons and counting for Saturn, and finding oil in impossible places.
- Humans
One-Stop Shopping for Every Species
On Feb. 26, the Encyclopedia of Life went live. This site hopes to become the definitive place to find information on every living species—millions and millions of them. The first extensive sets of entries will include fish and members of the potato and tomato families. But more species will be added all the time—offering basic […]
- Astronomy
Urgently Wanted—Star Counters
Through March 8, an organization known as GLOBE at Night is asking for help tallying celestial bodies in the constellation Orion. Designed as a teaching aid, this star-counting program aims to emphasize the loss-of-darkness throughout the globe, a problem which hinders ground-based astronomy. Students, families, and the general public can report their results online by […]
- Humans
From the February 26, 1938, issue
Evidence of religious head-hunting in ancient Peru, the link between climate and body size, and chest pain tied to obesity.
- Astronomy
New Worlds Atlas
Keep track of the ever-expanding list of newly discovered planets orbiting distant suns at PlanetQuest 2.0, a revamped Website developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It has images, “planet system visualizations,” movies and games that simulate interstellar exploration, and even lets you install a desktop planet counter so that your computer always displays the latest […]
- Humans
From the February 19, 1938, issue
A rough, tough charioteer from ancient Sumer, Americans' poor eating habits, and digging up an early industrial town.
- Earth
Find My Valentine—or Other Places
The federal Geographic Names Information System lists 14 sites around the nation named Valentine—Including Alta Mills, Kan., and Bedison, Mo., for which Valentine is an alternate moniker. You can search for locations that may share your name, a name associated with some holiday (like Santa Claus, Ind.), or the name of an object of your […]
- Humans
From the February 12, 1938, issue
Radio tower reaches for the sky, making a canyon the hard way, and forecasting the next big drought.
- Humans
From the February 5, 1938, issue
Tiny shells test lenses, the rules of radioactivity, and discovering new lunar terrain.
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Marine Cloudmakers
As bubbles in the ocean burst, they release entrained microorganisms and other marine materials. As they’re spewed into the air, these particles can serve as the basis of cloud particles. Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego explain the phenomenon in this Jan. 8 mini-video and even speculate […]
- Humans
From the January 29, 1938, issue
A new telescope's home under construction, Eros makes a close pass, and history revealed in mosaic floors.
