Uncategorized
- Earth
Chemical Reaction: Two flame retardants to phase out in 2004
The sole U.S. manufacturer of two widely used brominated fire retardants pledged to phase out its production of both products by the end of next year.
- Animals
Not-So-Great Hunter: Said the spider to the fly—Eek! I’m outta here
The poisonous brown recluse spider may turn out not to be a fearsome hunter so much as a scavenger.
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Calcium Makes Germs Cluster: Ion dilution leads cholera bacteria to disperse
A protein on the surface of cholera-causing bacteria enables the pathogens to clump together in seawater and to scatter when they enter fresh water, perhaps facilitating seasonal outbreaks of cholera in coastal areas.
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Forgetting to Remember: Emotion robs memory while reviving it
A common biological mechanism may boost memory for emotional events and block recall for what happened just before those events occurred, at least over the short run.
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19358
This article says that emotions can both decrease and enhance memories of specific events. It’s been over 40 years since President John F. Kennedy was murdered, and I can remember being in my U.S. History class and hearing the news on the loudspeakers, as if it happened an hour ago. I have absolutely no memory […]
- Earth
Frosty Florida: Spread of agriculture may promote freezes
Planting crops in south Florida may have increased the risk of the freezes farmers hoped to avoid.
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19282
That draining wetlands leads to a greater likelihood of frosts and freezes in southern Florida was noted nearly a century ago. In The Commodore’s Story (1930, R. Munroe and V. Gilpin, Washburn), Ralph Munroe commented that “the ‘frost line’ moved spasmodically down the state as drainage decreased the water area and apparently influenced the temperature.” […]
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Getting Back to Normal: Protein enables the liver to regenerate quickly
A protein called stem cell factor enables the liver to regenerate and may even protect people from acute liver failure.
- Astronomy
Hot and Heavy Star Birth: Young cosmos delivers massive stars
Aided by a gravitational zoom lens, astronomers have discovered the hottest, brightest, and most crowded star-forming region ever observed.
- Earth
Cast-Iron Foot: Undersea snail has mineral armor
An as-yet-unnamed species of snail living around hydrothermal vents deep beneath the Indian Ocean bears a suit of armor forged from the minerals dissolved in the hot fluids that spew from its seafloor environment.
- Health & Medicine
Soy compounds thwart estrogen
Soy-stress compound interferes with estrogen activity, possibly pointing the way to a new breast-cancer drug.
- Earth
UV-pollutant combo hits tadpoles hard
Coincident exposure to ultraviolet light and an estrogen-mimicking pollutant severely jeopardized the chance a tadpole would reach adulthood.
