Uncategorized
-
Letters
Underground particle hunts The dark matter experiments described in “Mining for missing matter” (SN: 8/28/10, p. 22) sound almost identical to those looking for neutrinos. Both are placed deep underground to help screen out background radiation, especially neutrons. How do particle hunters differentiate between neutrino hits and those by the putative dark matter particles? Also, […]
-
Top statistician explains what all those numbers mean
In June, the United Nations passed a resolution designating October 20 as World Statistics Day. The United States planned to mark the occasion with a gathering on Capitol Hill of representatives from number-crunching agencies. Science News writer Laura Sanders recently spoke with U.S. Chief Statistician Katherine Wallman about why numbers matter. “People have a lot […]
- Health & Medicine
Anticancer protein might combat HIV
The tumor suppressor p21 shows up in abundance in some people who are impervious to developing AIDS despite being infected, a study shows.
- Physics
Sailing toward the island of stability
The creation of six new superheavy isotopes has encouraged researchers who hope to find long-lived elements of even greater mass.
- Math
Marathoning made easy
Or at least endurable, by calculating and then keeping to a physiologically sustainable pace.
- Psychology
Kids learn late to tackle data overload
An information-thrifty tactic used by adults for making accurate judgments takes hold during the tween years.
- Health & Medicine
Protein implicated in many cancers
A hormone receptor that shows up in 11 tumor types might make a good target for drugs, a new study suggests.
- Life
Gene therapy for depression
Researchers were able to reduce pathological behaviors in mice by delivering genetic material to a particular brain region.
- Space
New cosmic distance record-holder
A faraway galaxy hails from a time when the 13.7-billion-year-old universe was a mere 600 million years old.
-
- Animals
Lady MacBee
In one stingless Brazilian species, young queens shut out of succession in their own hives often usurp another colony’s throne.
- Physics
Holy moley
Adding more decimal places to Avogadro constant could produce a better definition of the kilogram.
