Uncategorized
- Math
Net advantage
When damaged, networks that seem resilient can still become inefficient to the point of being unusable.
- Astronomy
One star, five planets
With the discovery of a fifth planet circling the nearby star 55 Cancri, astronomers have found the most abundant—and heaviest—planetary system beyond the sun's.
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19904
This article says that patches of uncultivated land provide a haven for native bees that can help with pollination. Flowering hedgerows, as used in England instead of fences, would also ensure a source of wild bees as well as a refuge for wild bird populations. Roger W. OttoSan Mateo, Calif.
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Eastern farms have native-bee insurance
If honeybees somehow vanished, the pockets of wild land in the Delaware Valley still harbor enough native bees to fill in and do the tough job of pollinating watermelon farms.
- Humans
Letters from the November 24, 2007, issue of Science News
Blame where it’s due Although multinational agreements on global warming try to spread the burden among all nations, data from the MILAGRO project in Mexico City (“What Goes Up,” SN: 9/8/07, p. 152) suggest that the major responsibility for excess production of greenhouse gases and other pollutants lies with the megacities, which constitute a rather […]
- Tech
A smaller magnetometer
A novel sensor the size of a rice grain can detect magnetic fields as small as those produced by brain or heart waves.
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19903
We in Maine were surprised to learn that the beautiful Penobscot Narrows Bridge runs between Bangor and Brewer. In fact, it connects Prospect, in Waldo County, with Verona, in Hancock County. The three bridges that connect Bangor and Brewer are frankly boring in comparison. And if you’re in the area, please head 30 miles up […]
- Tech
Bad Vibrations
Despite computer models and wind tunnel tests, bridges show surprising vibrations and movements that engineers are still learning to cope with.
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Showdown at Sex Gap
Faced with two contrasting reports on the science of sex differences in mathematics and science aptitude, researchers at a meeting held in October tried to figure out what's really known about this controversy and how the findings apply to education and test taking.
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19902
In all the recent discussions regarding science education in the U.S., one factor that has not been mentioned is the antiscience attitude of many leaders and people in the media. It is fashionable to be ignorant of math, but not to be illiterate. This must have some effect on motivation to learn about science. Dennis […]
- Humans
From the November 13, 1937, issue
Reconstructions of European dwellings from 2 and 4 millennia ago, an asteroid traveling at record-breaking speed, and a headlight that tilts as the car goes up or down a hill.
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Climate of Debate
Want to get working climate scientists’ take on new and developing climate science? This site—developed for the interested public and journalists—aims “to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary. The discussion here is restricted to scientific topics and will not get involved in any political or […]
