Uncategorized
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19344
My attention was immediately drawn to this article. You see, in the late 1970s, as a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, I developed a snake-tethering technique with the assistance of one of the campus veterinarians, Scott E. McDonald. The article falsely attributes rattlesnake leashing to others. David F. HennessySacramento, Calif. Yes, David […]
- Animals
Leashing the Rattlesnake
Even in the 21st century, there's still room for old-fashioned, do-it-yourself ingenuity in experimental design for studying animal behavior.
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19275
The reporting of the activity surrounding the tragic loss of Columbia continues to anger me. Columbia was lost because of program ignorance of a flight condition that should not have been permitted to exist or continue. It is a cruel and self-serving action to criticize a wonderful piece of engineering because its operators have been […]
- Planetary Science
After the Tragedy
NASA's plan to return the space shuttles safely to flight after the Columbia accident is coming under intense scrutiny.
- Humans
From the September 23, 1933, issue
LEAFY SUCCULENTS SOLVE PROBLEM SET BY DESERT Desert plants have a particularly hard problem to solve, set by that old Sphinx, the desert itself, and if they fail to solve it, the penalty is the same as that exacted in the old Greek myth–they must die. They must spread a sufficient chlorophyll surface to the […]
- Planetary Science
Earthly Field Trip to Mars
Interested in seeing Martian landscapes and features up close on Earth? This Web site offers kids a “field trip” to formations in the state of Washington that resemble those found on the Red Planet. Take a look at floodplains, volcanoes, basalt columns, lakebeds, canyons, sand dunes, and more. Go to: http://www.kidscosmos.org/field-trip-to-mars.html
- Math
Rolling with Reuleaux
Have you ever wondered why the cover of a manhole is nearly always round? Why isn’t it oval or square? Reuleaux curve based on an equilateral triangle. Reuleaux curves based on the pentagon (top) and heptagon (bottom). The usual answer is that a circular lid, unlike a square or an oval cover, won’t fall through […]
- Materials Science
Molecular Memory: Carbon-nanotube device stores data in molecules
Scientists have created a memory device in which data are encoded in switching molecules called catenanes that are attached to a carbon nanotube.
- Physics
One-Atom Laser: Trapped atom shoots steady light beam
A single, ultracold cesium atom sandwiched between two mirrors yields the most orderly beam of laser light ever.
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Unfair Trade: Monkeys demand equitable exchanges
Researchers say they have shown for the first time that a nonhuman species—the brown capuchin monkey—has a sense of what's fair and what's not.
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19274
I suggest that we view the results described in this article as indicating that humans frequently act like monkeys, not vice versa. Further, what is being measured as fairness may better be seen as the basis for envy and greed. It is not surprising that monkeys have the ability to display these tendencies, but they […]
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Estrogen Shock: Mollusk gene rewrites history of sex hormone
Estrogen and similar hormones evolved much earlier than thought.
