Uncategorized
- Humans
Letters from the April 2, 2005, issue of Science News
Zoom in, drop out On reading the interesting research on droplets (“Dial-a-Splash: Thin air quells liquid splatter,” SN: 2/12/05, p. 99), I noticed that the two droplets shown in the photos at the moment of first contact have different shapes. In air at normal pressure, the droplet has the characteristic hamburger-bun shape. In contrast, the […]
- Astronomy
Worlds of Astronomy
British astronomer and writer David Darling has created an impressive, online encyclopedia devoted to topics in astronomy, astrobiology, spaceflight, space physics, and much more. From the Abell cluster to the Zwicky Catalogue, the site provides clear, straightforward explanations of a variety of concepts, along with brief biographies and much other material, including relevant images. Go […]
- Humans
From the March 23, 1935, issue
Darwin's favorite plant is re-studied, rare hydrogen isotope is extracted from water, and need for strong lighting is questioned.
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Babies Learn to Save Face: Infants get prepped to perceive
A minimal amount of parent-directed training at home allows babies to sustain facial-discrimination skills that they would otherwise lose by age 9 months.
- Animals
Big Mimics: African elephants can learn to copy sounds
Two captive African elephants—one rumbling like a truck and the other chirping like a different elephant species—show they may be the first land mammals other than primates to learn vocal imitations.
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Tug-of-War: How bacteria prevent host-cell suicide
New research suggests that bacteria may keep the cells they infect alive longer by tugging on the cells' membranes.
- Materials Science
Clever Coating: New polymer may prolong life of medical implants
Coating medical implants such as glucose sensors and coronary stents with copper-doped polymers could dramatically extend the devices' functioning.
- Earth
An Ounce of Pollution: Particles’ harm varies by person, region, season
A gram of small, air-polluting particles has deadlier effects in certain seasons and regions of the country than in others, and particulate pollutants may disrupt heart function most in people who already have cardiovascular problems.
- Astronomy
Alien Light: Extrasolar planets are detected in new way
Two teams of scientists report that they have for the first time directly detected the glow of planets that circle sunlike stars hundreds of light-years from Earth.
- Paleontology
Old Softy: Tyrannosaurus fossil yields flexible tissue
Scientists analyzing fragments of a Tyrannosaurus rex's leg bone have recovered soft, pliable material, including structures that apparently are cells and blood vessels.
- Health & Medicine
Plants take bite out of deadly snake venoms
A Nigerian pharmacologist has found in local plants a potential antidote to some of the world's most deadly snake venoms.
- Health & Medicine
Flame retardants spark new concern
Breakdown products in brominated flame retardants, traces of which circulate in the blood of most people, may perturb the normal production of reproductive hormones, a new test-tube study suggests.
