Uncategorized
- Humans
To Leap or Not to Leap
Scientists are debating whether to continue the practice of occasionally inserting leap seconds in order to keep official, atomic-based time in sync with time based on Earth's rotation.
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19668
Clock time has long been out of step with the heavens. Since the adoption of time zones in the 19th century, we have accepted disparities of as much as 30 minutes at the edges of the time zones (more in some cases since time zones are set by politics, not geography). And of course, the […]
- Humans
From the April 11, 1936, issue
Spring flowers, alcohol's effect on the liver, and tapping into brain waves.
- Humans
Sculpting Life’s Machinery
Sculptor Julian Voss-Andreae creates novel artworks inspired by the three-dimensional structures of proteins. His latest work, “Unravelling Collagen,” goes on display next month in the City of South San Francisco’s Orange Memorial Sculpture Park. Now based in Portland, Ore., Voss-Andreae had started out as a quantum physicist. Go to: http://www.julianvossandreae.com/
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19667
It seems that each of the moons of all of the planets within our solar system—and even some moons outside of our solar system—are named. However, it strikes me as remarkable and ironic that our own moon is the only moon that is unnamed. I think we should have a naming contest for our moon. […]
- Planetary Science
Brilliant! Tenth planet turns out to be a shiner
Xena, unofficially called the 10th planet, is the second-most-shiny known object in the solar system.
- Chemistry
Dynamic Duo: Two catalysts build valuable carbon chains
By combining the power of two well-known reactions, chemists have devised a way to alter the length of linear carbon chains.
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Sleeper Finding: Hormone key to hibernation?
A recently discovered hormone may play a major role in triggering and maintaining hibernation.
- Earth
Limited Storage: Lack of nutrients will constrain carbon uptake
Even though the carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere acts as a fertilizer for plants, the planet's vegetation won't be able to sequester large amounts of that greenhouse gas in the long term because it will quickly run out of other nutrients.
- Animals
Into Hot Water: Lab test shows that worms seek heat
Worms from deep-sea vents prefer water at temperatures near the upper limit of what animals are known to survive.
- Health & Medicine
Estrogen Safety: Studies raise cancer, blood clot questions
Two studies provide conflicting findings on estrogen therapy's effect on breast cancer risk, while a third study suggests that the hormone contributes to blood clot formation.
- Health & Medicine
Microbe Hunt: Novel bacterium infects immune-deficient people
A newfound bacterium can cause illness in people who have a rare, inherited form of immune deficiency.
