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  1. Powering the national labs as engines of discovery

    In May 2009, University of Chicago physicist Eric D. Isaacs took the helm of the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago. Earlier in his career, Isaacs spent 13 years at Bell Laboratories, where he directed semiconductor and materials physics research. Recently, Science News senior editor Janet Raloff spoke with Isaacs about ways to […]

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  2. Letters

    Well-tooled apes The fascinating article “Aping the Stone Age” (SN: 11/21/09, p. 24) led me to wonder whether researchers who work with chimps or other higher apes have ever introduced them to the modern tools used by humans, such as saws, axes, hammers or pliers. If so, it would be interesting to know whether the […]

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  3. Book Review: Megadisasters: The Science of Predicting the Next Catastrophe by Florin Diacu

    Review by Kristina Bartlett Brody.

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  4. Book Review: Danger to Self: On the Front Line with an E.R. Psychiatrist by Paul R. Linde

    Review by Rachel Zelkowitz.

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  5. The Double Helix and the Law of Evidence by David H. Kaye

    A  legal scholar describes the history and future of DNA-based evidence in the  American justice system. Harvard University Press, 2010, 330 p., $45. THE DOUBLE HELIX AND THE LAW OF EVIDENCE BY DAVID H. KAYE

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  6. Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban Planning by Jason Corburn

    City planners could increase health equity by considering environmental and public health issues during urban redevelopment. MIT Press, 2009, 282 p., $24. TOWARD THE HEALTHY CITY: PEOPLE, PLACES, AND THE POLITICS OF URBAN PLANNING BY JASON CORBURN

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  7. Engineering Invention: Frank J. Sprague and the U.S. Electrical Industry by Frederick Dalzell

    The inventor and entrepreneur worked for Edison before coming up with the electric railway and electric elevator. MIT Press, 2009, 288 p., $30. ENGINEERING INVENTION: FRANK J. SPRAGUE AND THE U.S. ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY BY FREDERICK DALZELL

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  8. Life Along the Inner Coast by Robert L. Lippson and Alice Jane Lippson

    Southeast waterways host tremendous diversity, described in this field guide by two naturalists. University of North Carolina Press, 2009, 454 p., $35. LIFE ALONG THE INNER COAST BY ROBERT L. LIPPSON AND ALICE JANE LIPPSON

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  9. Jump into Science: Active Learning for Preschool Children by Rae Pica

    Science education starts early through experiments that keep kids moving. JUMP INTO SCIENCE: ACTIVE LEARNING FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN BY RAE PICA Gryphon House, 2009, 131 p., $14.95.

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  10. Climate

    Warming has already boosted insect breeding

    Museum records, publications suggest extra generations at same time as temperature increases

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  11. Earth

    Tides in Earth’s crust trigger small, deep quakes

    Study of one portion of the San Andreas fault finds that just a little added stress from crustal tides makes a quake more likely.

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  12. Space

    Stay tuned: New star coming in 1 million years

    Radio observations of a dark, dusty cloud in a nearby star-forming region have revealed one of the earliest phases of star formation and may reveal new insights on starbirth.

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