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Science Past from the issue of November 4, 1961

ARTIFICIAL HEART VALVE — A previously hopeless condition of the heart — a defective heart valve — can now be corrected by successful surgery, it was reported at the American Heart Association meeting in Miami Beach, Fla. Many of the 500 gravely ill patients described by three teams of surgeons who did partial or total […]

Science Future for November 5, 2011

November 15 The DuPont Challenge science essay competition opens for entries. Learn more at thechallenge.dupont.com November 17 The Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books is announced. See bit.ly/bookprz   November 19 The “Beyond Earth” exhibit opens at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. See www.amnh.org

SN Online

DELETED SCENES BLOG An orbiting camera catches dust devils whirling at high speeds on the Red Planet. Read “HiRISE clocks hurricane-speed winds on Mars.” ATOM & COSMOS Astronomers get a new odometer to measure faraway objects. See “Longer cosmic ruler based on black holes.” ENVIRONMENT A warming climate could be making elk more destructive to […]

Olive oil injections aid in treating pneumonia

Treating pneumonia with olive oil sounds strange, but the idea showed signs of early scientific savvy.

BOOK REVIEW: The Ambonese Herbal, Volume 1: Introduction and Book I: Containing All Sorts of Trees, That Bear Edible Fruits, and Are Husbanded by People by Georgius Everhardus Rumphius; translated by E.M. Beekman

Review by Susan Milius.

Invasion of the Body: Revolutions in Surgery by Nicholas L. Tilney

The history of modern surgery is revealed through tales of surgical breakthroughs at a Boston teaching hospital that opened in 1913. Harvard Univ. Press, 2011, 358 p., $29.95

BOOK REVIEW: The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age by Nathan Wolfe

Review by Erika Engelhaupt.

A Bee in a Cathedral: And 99 Other Scientific Analogies by Joel Levy

One hundred analogies and metaphors make science more visual: Learn how chemical reactions are like school dances and how long it would take to type the human genome. A BEE IN A CATHEDRAL, JOEL LEVY Firefly Books, 2011, 224 p., $29.95

Arctic Autumn: A Journey to Season’s Edge by Pete Dunne

A naturalist shares memories and pictures of travels through some of the most dramatic wilderness in the Northern Hemisphere. ARCTIC AUTUMN, PETE DUNNE Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011, 258 p., $24

The Fact of Evolution by Cameron M. Smith

An anthropologist explains how evolution occurs and why it must for life to survive on an ever-changing planet. THE FACT OF EVOLUTION, CAMERON M. SMITH Prometheus Books, 2011, 346 p., $18

The Face of the Earth: Natural Landscapes, Science, and Culture by SueEllen Campbell

An English professor takes readers on a poetic exploration of geology, aided by essays from scientists and other writers. THE FACE OF THE EARTH, SUEELLEN CAMPBELL Univ. of California Press, 2011, 320 p., $26.95

Lopped Off

Removal of top predators trickles through the food web.