Uncategorized

  1. Earth

    Dry winters heat European summers

    When southern Europe receives scant rainfall in the winter, the whole continent tends to bake the following summer.

    By
  2. Uncommon cancer gets start in muscle cells

    Synovial sarcoma, a cancer thought to arise from joint tissue, actually forms in nascent muscle cells, a mouse study shows.

    By
  3. Animals

    Killer mice hit seabird chicks

    A surveillance video shows a worrisome sight: house mice nibbling to death rare seabird chicks on a remote island breeding colony.

    By
  4. 19825

    The NASA researchers baffled in this article by the hexagonal shape in Saturn’s soupy atmosphere at its northern pole should read “As waters part, polygons appear” (SN: 6/3/06, p. 348). It is worth investigating whether there is a similar phenomenon—I still suspect some sort of standing sine wave effect—at work in both cases. Ellery FrahmMinneapolis, […]

    By
  5. Planetary Science

    A hexagon on the ringed planet

    NASA scientists are puzzled by a giant, hexagon-shaped feature that covers Saturn's entire north pole.

    By
  6. Earth

    Flotsam Science

    Researchers have harnessed the power of flotsam—floating items as diverse as tennis shoes, tub toys, and hockey gloves—to chart the path and speed of the Pacific Subarctic Gyre, a group of currents in the North Pacific Ocean.

    By
  7. 19824

    The lines on the cave ceilings remind me very much of what a large pot of finger paint looks like after children extract what they want to draw with. I could easily see my children (especially when younger) drawing on their own faces and bodies all kinds of designs using the colored clay. Dan WoitulewiczDetroit, […]

    By
  8. Anthropology

    Children of Prehistory

    Accumulating evidence suggests that children and teenagers produced much prehistoric cave art and perhaps left behind many fledgling attempts at stone-tool making as well.

    By
  9. Humans

    Letters from the April 28, 2007, issue of Science News

    Long ago gas Finding CO2 levels that are 2,500 times higher in 5,000-year-old fulgurites than in modern samples, scientists have speculated that the extra CO2 resulted from vaporization of organic material by lightning (“Stroke of Good Fortune: A wealth of data from petrified lightning,” SN: 2/17/07, p. 101). Could some of this gas reflect elevated […]

    By
  10. Earth

    Earth 911

    Earth Day comes only once a year, but you can give Mother Earth a gift every day. The site Earth 911 makes it easy to be environmentally responsible. The Web portal offers ideas on how to recycle old electronics, dispose of hazardous materials, conserve energy, and shop green—and all its tips are tailored to your […]

    By
  11. Humans

    From the April 17, 1937, issue

    Signs of spring, new elements in space, and the future of atomic energy.

    By
  12. Astronomy

    Back to (Near) the Beginning: Galactic springtime

    In their quest to capture ever-earlier moments of cosmic history, astronomers may have found some of the first galaxies.

    By