Uncategorized
- Earth
Buried Treasures
Geologists have long understood the chemical processes that sculpt many cave formations, but they've only recently come up with a physical model that explains some of their shapes.
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19672
Something mystified me about this article. Apparently, preservation experts are concerned that microorganisms could wipe out Stone Age cave paintings, as if this were an urgent threat. Has something altered the caves in which these paintings appear that has invited intensified bacterial growth? Don McMillanModesto, Calif. What threatens the paintings is a modern scourge: tourists. […]
- Health & Medicine
Ultrasound’s New Focus
No longer limiting the use of sound waves to diagnostic medicine, researchers are studying high-intensity focused ultrasound as a treatment for uterine fibroids, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and other cancers.
- Math
Papercraft Polyhedra
Constructing intricate polyhedra requires considerable skill and artistry. For more math, visit the MathTrek blog.
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Finding Form
Biologist Sean Carroll maintains a site devoted to the genetics of animal body designs and evolution. Read about advances in the emerging field of evolutionary developmental biology and watch brief movies of embryo formation in fruit flies, butterfly wing development, and other natural wonders. Go to: http://www.molbio.wisc.edu/carroll/index.html
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Babies Prune Their Focus: Perception narrows toward infancy’s end
Between the ages of 6 months and 8 months, infants lose the ability to match the vocalizations and facial movements of monkeys shown in video clips, signaling a temporary perceptual narrowing as babies focus on the human social realm.
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Picking Pathways: Small molecule boosts morphine effect
Some small molecules affect specific pathways in one of the body's most common cell-regulating systems.
- Health & Medicine
Dementia off the Menu: Mediterranean diet tied to low Alzheimer’s risk
People 65 years of age and older who eat a Mediterranean-style diet that's rich in plant matter and fish and low in saturated fat are less likely than their peers to develop Alzheimer's disease.
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Me and My Metabolism: Personalized medicine takes new direction
Researchers may be better able to predict drug toxicity in individual patients by examining their metabolisms than by focusing on their genes.
- Health & Medicine
Decent Interval; Well-spaced babies may have advantage
Babies conceived between 18 months and 5 years after their mothers' previous birth are healthier than are babies conceived before or after these two points in time.
- Tech
Switch-a-Vision: Electric spectacles could aid aging eyes
A new type of eyeglasses that change their focus in response to electric signals may one day replace bifocals and other types of reading glasses.
