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19288
Your article states, “There are about 4.14 kilograms of carbon in a gallon of gasoline, says Dukes.” If he actually said that, this would seem to qualify this gasoline as an “alternative fuel,” since a gallon of ordinary gasoline is only about 2.5 kilograms in mass. Perhaps Dukes meant 4.14 pounds of carbon per gallon. […]
- Earth
Fill ‘er up . . . with a few tons of wheat
A new analysis suggests that the amount of ancient plant matter that was needed to make just 1 gallon of gasoline is the same amount that can be grown each year in a 40-acre wheat field—roots, stalks, and all.
- Ecosystems
UK halts badger kill after study of TB
Partial results from a new study have pushed the United Kingdom to stop its controversial, decades-old policy of killing local badgers if cattle catch TB.
- Health & Medicine
Testing Times
Relying in part on a new rapid HIV test, health officials are working to identify and treat more HIV infections earlier in the course of the disease.
- Humans
Munching Along
New Orleans' French Quarter has become a central proving ground for new technologies to find and attack the North American invasion of especially aggressive and resourceful alien termites.
- Math
Pentomino Battleships
Many of you are probably familiar with the two-player, pencil-and-paper (or electronic) game known as Battleships. There are 12 different pentominoes, each one consisting of five adjacent squares. Traditionally, each pentomino is identified by the letter of the alphabet that it roughly resembles. On separate 10-by-10 grids of squares, each player deploys a fleet consisting […]
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From the November 18, 1933, issue
“ROSETTA STONE” OF PREHISTORIC AMERICA Frank M. Setzler of the Smithsonian Institution is shown pointing to a little pottery bowl which he likens to the Rosetta Stone of the Nile because it is decorated with two kinds of art design, one known and the other unknown. Together with other discoveries made under Mr. Setzlers direction […]
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Common Cold
This Web site offers a wide range of material concerning the common cold. The available information includes an overview of how the cold virus invades the human body and how cold symptoms are caused. The site also has pages on preventing colds and about some of the complications that can occur. Check out the special […]
- Materials Science
No Assembly Required: DNA brings carbon nanotube circuits in line
Using DNA as a scaffold, researchers have devised a simple way of creating carbon nanotube transistors—a feat that paves the way for more complex circuits made from these nanomaterials.
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19287
This article refers to “Japanese research-whaling ships” that “capture” whales. Reputable scientists and environmentalists agree that the Japanese whaling industry operates primarily for slaughter, not research, in violation of antiwhaling treaties respected by virtually all nations. Science News shouldn’t use the propaganda terms favored by those who would drive cetaceans to extinction. Ken PaffDetroit, Mich.
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Whales of Distinction: Old specimens now declared a new species
Japanese researchers have named a new category of living baleen whales to explain puzzling specimens dating back to the 1970s.
- Planetary Science
Giant picture of a giant planet
The Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft has taken the sharpest global portrait of Jupiter ever obtained, showing the planet's turbulent atmosphere in true color.
