Uncategorized
- Earth
Pompeii debris yields calamity clues
The magnetic characteristics of rocks and debris excavated from Pompeii reveal the changing temperatures of the volcanic ash cloud that smothered the Italian city in A.D. 79.
- Anthropology
Extinct ancestor wasn’t so finicky
Contrary to much anthropological thought, the genus Paranthropus showed as much dietary and behavioral flexibility as ancient Homo species did between 3 million and 1 million years ago.
- Earth
Deep Pacific waters warmed in recent years
Oceanographic data gathered across the North Pacific in 1985 and again in 1999 indicate that the deepest waters there have been heating up.
- Chemistry
New champions among corrosive microbes
Newly discovered strains of bacteria have developed a metabolic shortcut for eating away iron with great efficiency.
- Materials Science
Cinching nanotubes into tough fibers
Irradiating bundles of carbon nanotubes can lead to tougher fibers.
- Physics
Radioactive sprinkles keep machines true
Needing tiny radioactive sources to calibrate medical scanners with ever-sharper vision, an Australian team dipped tiny balls the size of candy sprinkles into a radioactive liquid.
- Planetary Science
A New Flight Plan
President Bush recently unveiled an ambitious plan for a manned mission to Mars, using the moon as a testing area and stepping-stone, but for many planetary scientists the moon is a desirable destination in and of itself.
-
19388
I can think of a place other than the moon where NASA could develop a closed life-support system for staging rehearsals of manned Mars exploration. Why not Earth? Advantages would include a protective atmosphere, a day length closer to the Martian sol, bone-and-muscle-friendly gravity, and easy access to mechanical and medical resources. The cost would […]
- Health & Medicine
Born to Heal
The controversial strategy of screening embryos to produce donors for siblings raises hopes and presents new ethical dilemmas.
-
19387
Your article quotes a pediatrician as saying, “we’re moving to selection on the basis of a trait that is of no benefit to the child to be born.” I disagree. The child to be born would have the benefit of a healthy older sibling. Even saving the parents from the trauma of a dying child […]
- Math
Mining the Tagged Web
IBM's WebFountain project gathers and annotates Web content on a vast scale to serve as a platform for data miners.
-
From the March 3, 1934, issue
High winds atop Mt. Washington, a new tool for brain studies, first chemical proof of the artificial transmutation of elements.
