Uncategorized

  1. 19734

    I was extremely disappointed to read the definition of ecotourism as being “the practice of visiting sites where exotic landscapes and rare animals are the main attractions.” Ecotourism was founded with the specific goal of countering the overuse of the kind of travel described in the article. A better definition would be one used by […]

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  2. Humans

    Good Gone Wild

    New research shows that the ecotourism model of raising conservation awareness while protecting indigenous cultures doesn't always work out as planned.

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  3. Chemistry

    Catalyst cleans up

    A new chemical catalyst can remove the pollutant perchlorate from water.

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  4. Chemistry

    Altering ant uniforms

    The chemical coat that an invasive ant species relies upon to recognize its kin may someday serve to turn family into foe.

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  5. Materials Science

    Rice-straw sweaters

    Textile scientists have for the first time extracted from rice straw natural cellulose fibers that can be spun into yarn.

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  6. Animals

    Mother deer can’t ID their fawns by call

    Fawns can distinguish their mom's voice from another deer's, but a mom can't pick out her fawn's call.

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  7. Insecticide gets help from gut bacteria

    The world's most widely used organic insecticide appears to rely on an insect's normal gut flora to do its dirty work.

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  8. Tech

    Muscling up colors for electronic displays

    Researchers have found a way to provide the complete color palette for television and computer screens.

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  9. Chemical Enlightenment

    After a 40-year hiatus, research on the psychedelic drug psilocybin indicates that it often triggers mystical and spiritual experiences in ordinary people, at least temporarily changing their lives for the better.

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  10. 19733

    The “mystical journey” described in this article has long been available drug free and under carefully controlled conditions via biofeedback. The results of these sessions are very similar to those described by people who received psilocybin. In the rare circumstances when clients become uncomfortable in their altered states, a session can be terminated immediately. Doreen […]

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  11. Humans

    Letters from the September 30, 2006, issue of Science News

    Not a pretty picture “Deadly Disorder: Imagined-ugliness illness yields high suicide rate” (SN: 7/22/06, p. 52) raises some questions. What about people who are physically unattractive—those whom a majority of the society considers ugly? I suspect that many people treated for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are unattractive by that definition. The psychiatric profession tends to […]

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  12. Math

    Euler’s Bridges

    A well-known puzzle about bridges led to a pioneering paper in topology.

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