Uncategorized
- Plants
Sudden oak death jumps quarantine
The funguslike microbe that causes sudden oak death has turned up on nursery plants in southern California for the first time.
- Tech
Golden waves make stretchy microcircuits
Microscale wires with stretchy, wiggly shapes may prove useful for sensors and other electronic gadgets embedded in pliable or elastic items such as clothing or living tissue.
- Materials Science
Forensics on Trial
A decades-long practice of matching bullets on the basis of their chemical makeup is flawed, and the story behind this forensic technique reveals how science can get distorted in the courtroom.
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19395
This article was an eye-opener. Our courts may be accepting many analytical techniques that haven’t been adequately validated. We should be careful, especially where the death penalty is involved, not to be guilty of hubris in the application of scientific knowledge. Bob SauerPrinceton, Mass.
- Animals
The Social Lives of Snakes
A lot of pit vipers aren't the asocial loners that even snake fans had long assumed.
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19394
This article suggests that pregnant rattlesnakes might give their offspring a better chance of survival if they congregated for birth. If that were true, one might expect that there would also be a convergence of birth times. While doing research over 25 years ago, we had five of six pregnant rattlesnakes caged together all give […]
- Humans
From the March 17, 1934, issue
An African snake handler, the speed of lightning, and the emptiness of nebulae.
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Coral Reef Report
Coral Reef Report is a new online magazine that aims to “celebrate the power and mystery of the planet’s coral reefs.” It features articles, personal stories, audio interviews, photo galleries, news items, and other materials devoted to exploring and elucidating the beauty of coral reefs. Go to: http://coralreefreport.info/
- Math
Deriving the Structure of Numbers
A novel mathematical function called the number derivative offers new insights into the structure of integers.
- Humans
Letters from the March 20, 2004, issue of Science News
What’s the difference? I thought that the X and Y chromosomes determined gender in animals, but I see no mention of them in “When to Change Sex” (SN: 1/17/04, p. 40: When to Change Sex). Does this mean that on a genetic basis, males and females in these organisms are identical? Neil H. MurphyWalnut Creek, […]
- Humans
Top of the Top 40: Search tool for a cancer cure places first in national science competition
Herbert Mason Hedberg, the 2004 winner of the Intel Science Talent Search, and 39 other students have received recognition and scholarships for their innovations in science, mathematics, and engineering.
- Tech
Iron Power: Eking more juice from batteries
By creating an extremely thin layer of an unusually electron-hungry form of iron, chemists have made a prototype rechargeable battery electrode that may lead to improved metal hydride batteries.
