Uncategorized

  1. Astronomy

    A new X-ray eye on the cosmos

    To study some of the hottest regions in the universe, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency has launched the coldest instrument ever flown.

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  2. Archaeology

    Judeo-Christian ties buried in Rome

    New radiocarbon dates from one of ancient Rome's underground cemeteries, or catacombs, indicates that these structures were built in the Jewish community more than a century before early Christians started to do the same.

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  3. Cell death may spur aging

    Genetic mutations in cells' internal powerhouses could contribute to aging by stifling tissue maintenance.

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  4. Humans

    Pushing Drugs

    Pharmaceutical marketing toward both patients and physicians appears to influence which medicines get prescribed.

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  5. Archaeology

    Seeing Past the Dirt

    Increasingly, researchers are using geophysical techniques such as ground-penetrating radar and magnetometers to target their excavations.

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  6. 19577

    I’m currently writing a biography of RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, the instigator of the plan to construct the three tunnels in Stalag Luft III. Last fall, I visited the site. Amazingly, it was difficult to see where the excavation team had been. I have also spoken to dozens of men who either helped build […]

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  7. Math

    Paper Bags and Tricky Folds

    Folding a grocery bag flat takes a special kind of effort.

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  8. Humans

    From the July 20, 1935, issue

    A warning sign for pilots, better methods for producing radioactive substances, and making potatoes grow better with ultrasound.

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  9. Animal Skulls

    High school biology teacher DeLoy Roberts and his students have, over the years, assembled a large collection of animal skulls. This Web site provides dramatic images of the skulls, ranging, for example, from the armadillo to the wood rat among the mammals. Various birds, fish, sharks, reptiles, amphibians, and crustaceans are also represented. Go to: […]

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Tumors in Touch: Cancer cells spur vessel formation through contact

    Some tumor cells use a newfound mechanism to prompt neighboring cells into forming blood vessels that then nourish the cancer.

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  11. 19576

    That monkeys get “weirded out” by seeing themselves in mirrors doesn’t seem unexpected. Were a familiar or an unfamiliar same-sex capuchin seen, the test subject would be bombarded not just by visual images but also by smells generated from the normal interactions of monkeys. What makes them act strangely is not seeing themselves, which they […]

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  12. Reflections of Primate Minds: Mirror images strike monkeys as special

    Capuchin monkeys don't react to their own mirror images as they do to strangers, perhaps reflecting an intermediate stage of being able to distinguish oneself from others.

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