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  1. Health & Medicine

    Going Under

    While every anesthetic drug has its own effect, scientists know little about how the various versions work on the brain to transport patients from normal waking awareness to dreamless nothingness.

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  2. Science Future for May 21, 2011

    June 1The 2011 hurricane season begins. For storm updates go to www.nhc.noaa.gov June 1–5The World Science Festival returns to New York City with its annual fun and flair. See worldsciencefestival.com July 5–10Watch a 360-degree under-water film and visit exhibits at the Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition in London. Learn more at royalsociety.org

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  3. Science Past from the issue of May 20, 1961

    U.S. SPACEMAN A-OKAY — The United States broke the space barrier May 5 when Alan B. Shepard, Jr., 37-year-old astronaut, rode the Mercury capsule 302 miles down-range from Cape Canaveral, Fla. At 9:34 a.m. EST the Redstone rocket carrying the Mercury capsule lifted off the launching pad and took the astronaut for a 15-minute trip […]

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  4. Astronomy

    Supermassive black hole rises and shines

    Astronomers may have witnessed the activation of a dormant supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy.

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  5. Letters

    Ain’t got the beat Obviously, Bruce Bower hasn’t tried to teach tourists how to dance. “A man oblivious to music’s tempo” (SN: 3/26/11, p. 9), though not common, is not rare. In the last 35-plus years I’ve shown more than 10,000 visitors to New Orleans how to do the Cajun two-step or waltz, and perhaps […]

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  6. From the Archive

    Read the full article (PDF) February 13, 1937 | Vol. 31 | No. 827 Robot Mathematician Solves Nine Simultaneous Equations A ONE-TON machine that in a single action can solve nine simultaneous equations with nine unknowns so complicated in form they might well require days of laborious computation by trained mathematicians has been developed at […]

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  7. Psychology

    Thinking better with depression

    Study suggests people with the mood disorder have an advantage when making certain decisions.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Body & Brain

    Sleeping babies are growing babies, plus the body-brain connection and women’s circadian clocks in this week’s news.

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  9. Chemistry

    Spray of zinc marks fertilization

    Embryonic development begins with an outpouring of the metal, illustrating chemistry's importance in orchestrating biological processes.

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  10. Earth

    Warming dents corn and wheat yields

    Rising temperatures have decreased global grain production and may be partly responsible for food price increases.

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  11. Life

    Giant ants once roamed Wyoming

    The first complete fossil found in North America suggests warm spells in the far north allowed big insects to spread.

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  12. Space

    Gravity Probe B finally pays off

    A half century in the making, an orbiting experiment finally confirms Einstein's general relativity.

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