Uncategorized
- Paleontology
Digging the Scene: Dinos burrowed, built dens
Dinosaurs remains fossilized within an ancient burrow are the first indisputable evidence that some dinosaurs maintained an underground lifestyle.
- Health & Medicine
HIV-positive people getting heavier
With drug treatment, HIV-infected people no longer suffer from wasting but are about as overweight or obese as the U.S. population as a whole.
- Health & Medicine
‘Knuckle fever’ reaches Italy
A virus that causes debilitating fever and joint pain has spread from Africa to Italy, where it has caused at least 284 cases of illness.
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19894
This article says that chikungunya means “stooped over in pain” in an African dialect. But which one? Africa has a thousand languages, many of which have more than one dialect. Pol ShwingkCarlisle, Iowa The word comes from the language of the Makonde people of eastern Africa, although it has sometimes been labeled erroneously as Swahili. […]
- Health & Medicine
Twice bitten
Repeat episodes of Lyme disease are more likely caused by a second tick bite rather than by a return of the original illness.
- Health & Medicine
Ulcer bug may prevent asthma
Children whose stomachs carry the bacterium Helicobacter pylori are at lower risk for asthma than children who don't have the bug.
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19893
“Antibiotics in infancy tied to asthma” (SN: 7/7/07, p. 14) reported a correlation but no confident explanation for the relationship between receiving antibiotics and later developing asthma. This article, which reports that children with Helicobacter pylori in their stomachs are less likely to get asthma, seems to offer a convincing answer. Virginia BrockRock Island, Ill.
- Humans
Math clubs get national sponsor
A math group is offering all U.S. middle schools free materials to set up clubs aimed at making math fun.
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Stored blood loses some of its punch
Loss of nitric oxide from donated blood that's been stored for as little as 3 hours could impair its ability to flow through a recipient's blood vessels.
- Materials Science
Polymer could improve natural gas purification
A new polymer membrane that efficiently separates carbon dioxide from methane could greatly ease the processing of natural gas.
- Astronomy
Record-breaking supernova
A newly discovered supernova, 100 billion times as bright as the sun, is the most luminous ever recorded.
- Humans
Letters from the October 27, 2007, issue of Science News
Heated dispute “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature” (SN: 8/25/07, p. 125) states that “an increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, not an increase in solar radiation” is responsible for current global warming. What is the scientific—not political—basis for that remark? Warren FinleyLaguna Beach, Calif. Increasing solar radiation doesn’t affect climate change? […]
