Uncategorized
- Humans
Letters from the February 12, 2005, issue of Science News
Short end of the chromosome Since “women with chronically ill children generally reported more stress” and since “there was a very striking connection between stress and telomere length” (“Stressed to Death: Mental tension ages cells,” SN: 12/4/04, p. 355), isn’t it probable that there is a strong connection between telomere length and becoming the parent […]
- Humans
From the February 9, 1935, issue
A new type of sailboat, the most distant nebula, and germs on drinking glasses.
- Humans
Whys Up
The University of Wisconsin created the “The Why Files” to explain the science behind news headlines. The stories are timely and written for a broad audience of children and adults. Recent topics include snowmobile use in national parks, tsunamis, climate change, and ice in Antarctica. The articles are classified according to educational standards for grades […]
- Humans
Lean Times: Proposed budget keeps science spending slim
After accounting for inflation, President Bush's proposed research-and-development budget for fiscal year 2006 is down 1.4 percent from FY 2005, a figure that has many science agencies tightening their belts.
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19516
When I read of the Hubble Space Telescope–repair controversy (“People, Not Robots: Panel favors shuttle mission to Hubble,” SN: 12/18&25/04, p. 388; and this article), this question comes to mind: Why can’t an unmanned, powered vehicle latch on to Hubble and fly it to the International Space Station, where it could be repaired by the […]
- Animals
Oops! Grab That Trunk: High-diving ants swing back toward their tree
Certain tree-dwelling ants can direct their descent well enough to veer toward tree trunks and climb back home.
- Earth
Natural or Synthetic? Test reveals origin of chemicals in blubber
Natural compounds that are chemically akin to certain industrial chemicals wend their way up marine food chains and accumulate in whale blubber.
- Paleontology
Groovy Bones: Mammalian ear structure evolved more than once
Fossils of an ancient egg-laying mammal indicate that the characteristic configuration of the bones in all living mammals' ears arose independently at least twice during the group's evolution.
- Health & Medicine
Heartfelt Fear: Findings link stress and cardiac symptoms
Emotional stress can lead to symptoms that mimic a heart attack, even in people without coronary artery blockages, possibly by causing an unusual secretion of hormones.
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19515
On reading about the interesting research on droplets in this article, 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 droplet at reduced pressure is spherical, or nearly so. Can […]
- Physics
Dial-a-Splash: Thin air quells liquid splatter
How much liquids splatter when drops hit surfaces depends on the surrounding air pressure.
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19514
The work relating differences in intelligence scores to the “honing of spatial sensibilities” in Chinese readers sounds worthy of continued study. J. Philippe Rushton’s studies, on the other hand, sound fallacious. His claim that Chinese children adopted by U.S. parents also tend to score higher ignores the fact that such families tend overwhelmingly to be […]
