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19406
Like physicists, mathematicians have always been divided into theorists and experimentalists. And, as with the physicists, the two groups of mathematicians have not gotten along very well. Still, in physics, there has always been an understanding that both groups are necessary, whereas during the past century or so, it has been possible to pretend that […]
- Animals
Hooking the Gullible
Research into fish behavior often reveals ways that bait designers can trick a fish into biting odd-looking lures, but angler appeal can also be an important marketing consideration.
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19405
This article reminded me of the old quote: “A fishing lure is any combination of metal, plastic, wood, feathers, hair, or other manmade or natural material attached to a hook (or hooks) and designed to attract fishermen.” To wit: Decades ago, to impress an office associate who was a trout-fishing traditionalist as to how random […]
- Materials Science
High-temperature ceramics takes flight
A recent NASA flight test of ultrahigh-temperature ceramic materials might lead to a new aerospace design that would make the space shuttle look downright old-fashioned.
- Materials Science
Scientists tone down silicon rockers
Researchers have created pairs of silicon atoms that stay level instead of slowly rocking in place, permitting scientists to study silicon-surface reactions in unprecedented detail.
- Earth
A slump or a slide? Density decides
Using a full-scale simulator, researchers showed that just a small difference in soil density determines whether a landslide becomes a fast-moving killer or merely one that slowly slumps downhill.
- Paleontology
Listening to fish for extinction clues
Tiny fossils from fish that survived worldwide extinctions about 34 million years ago may reveal that cooler winters caused the die-off.
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19404
What an amazing time resolution for 34 million years ago! Could the temperature changes recorded reflect seasonal eel migration, rather than changes in the Gulf of Mexico? Are the results consistent between otoliths found in close association? Does this offer a method of more precise dating similar to the use of tree rings? Gordon C. […]
- Health & Medicine
Fetal cells pop up in mom’s thyroid
A woman's thyroid gland contains male cells, suggesting that cells from her son passed into her when he was a fetus.
- Health & Medicine
Gene helps alcohol help the heart
A genetic study indicates that moderate consumption of alcohol helps keep the heart healthy.
- Health & Medicine
Pill boosts cancer risk in some women
Women who took oral contraceptives before 1975, and whose mother or sister had breast cancer between 1944 and 1952, have triple the likelihood of getting breast cancer as compared with similar women who didn't take the pill.
- Health & Medicine
Interferon delays multiple sclerosis
In some people who show early-warning signs of multiple sclerosis, the drug interferon-beta-1a seems to delay or even prevent the disease from becoming full-blown.
