Uncategorized
-
19867
Based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Web resources on radon, I find that the decreases in radon levels in the summer are unlikely to be caused by a lack of air currents from less temperature differential in houses. The EPA states that an open window can be effective in reducing radon levels. And when are […]
- Astronomy
Veiled black holes
Many X ray sources in the sky could be active galactic nuclei smothered by gas and dust that blocks their emission of visible and ultraviolet light.
- Materials Science
Pliable carbon
The layers of carbon atoms that form graphite can be assembled into strong but flexible "graphene paper."
- Health & Medicine
CT heart scans: Risk climbs as age at screening falls
CT scans are increasingly used to investigate heart blockages, but their X rays can increase cancer risk.
- Animals
Gender bender
Disabling a chemical-sniffing organ crucial for courting behavior makes girl mice act like frisky boys.
- Earth
Cholesterol boosts diesel toxicity
Nanoparticles in diesel exhaust can activate genes that worsen cholesterol's damaging effects.
- Planetary Science
Deep Impact and Stardust: Still on assignment
Two sturdy NASA spacecraft have new assignments, studying comets and looking for exoplanets.
- Math
Cracking the Cube
A combination of mathematical analysis and supercomputer number-crunching proves that any Rubik's Cube can be solved in 26 moves or fewer.
- Earth
Hammered Saws
Sawfish, shark relatives that almost went extinct several decades ago, have now gained protection by international treaty.
- Health & Medicine
Taking a Jab at Cancer
Vaccines that train a person's immune system to kill cancerous cells, when combined with drugs that block tumor defense mechanisms, are starting to show promise.
- Humans
Letters from the August 11, 2007, issue of Science News
Sum kids While testing was done on 5- or 6-year-old children (“Take a Number: Kids show math insights without instruction,” SN: 6/2/07, p. 341), it would be interesting to see if this intuitive skill persists after these students are exposed to standard mathematical instruction in the higher grades. I suspect that the answer will be […]
- Humans
From the July 31, 1937, issue
Giant dragonflies from the Carboniferous period, a dust cloud obscuring stars near the sky's north pole, and a list of 13 inventions predicted to have great social significance.
