Uncategorized
- Animals
Killer sex, literally
Videotapes of yellow garden spiders show that if a female doesn't murder her mate, he'll expire during sex anyway.
- Tech
Giving solar cells the rough treatment
A new solar cell design that traps photons in the crevices of a bumpy surface uses low-cost materials and may make these cells more commercially appealing.
- Earth
Antimosquito coils release toxic fumes
Researchers have measured several pollutants in smoke emitted from so-called mosquito coils, which people burn at night to fend off insects.
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Adults’ brains show temperamental side
Using brain-imaging techniques, psychologists have identified possible neural locations underlying shyness or gregariousness.
- Plants
Crop genes diffuse in seedy ways
A study of sugar beets in France suggests that genes may escape to wild relatives through seeds accidentally transported by humans rather than through drifting pollen.
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Let there be light
Ultraviolet light may have favored, not hindered, the creation of RNA on early Earth.
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U.S. survey probes depression care
More than half of all people with major depression now seek treatment for the disorder, but only 1 in 5 depressed people receives what psychiatrists consider to be adequate medication and psychotherapy.
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19330
With the facts as given in this article, the birds spent about 7 percent of their time flying and 93 percent not flying. At the energy rates given, I get that 25 percent of the energy used was spent during the 7 percent of time the birds were flying. The article appeared to state that […]
- Animals
Flight burns less fuel than stopovers
The first measurements of energy use in migrating songbirds confirms that birds burn more energy during stopovers along the way than during their total flying time.
- Humans
From the July 8, 1933, issue
THE NYMPHS’ FLOWER Serene, cool, immaculate, the water lily floats beneath the summer sun, where the big flat drops of water shine like silver coins on the round, flat leaves. The water lily has been the delight of poets of all ages and peoples. Of moralists, too, who like to reflect that all that superb […]
- Astronomy
Strange Matter
What’s materials science? This engaging Web site for kids of all ages introduces “the study of stuff.” It describes how materials fit into different categories and provides accounts of what materials scientists do. Games and activities require a browser with a Flash plug-in. Go to: http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/
- Life
All the World’s a Phage
There are an amazing number of bacteriophages—viruses that kill bacteria—in the world.
