Uncategorized
- Materials Science
Convenient hydrogen storage?
A new porous material of metal and organic molecular parts may prove useful for storing hydrogen fuel.
- Astronomy
Lucky shot
To protect its sensitive optics, the Hubble Space Telescope had to turn its back on last November’s Leonid meteor storm, and that fortuitously put the luminous Helix nebula directly in the telescope’s sightline.
By Ron Cowen - Physics
A new twist on ropes
The centuries-old craft of splicing sturdy ropes for ships and ocean rigs gets mathematical scrutiny, turning up new information about wear and tear.
By Peter Weiss - Tech
Tiny device brings out the best in sperm
A new device with potential use in fertility treatments separates robust sperm from stragglers by exploiting a phenomenon that occurs when two microscale fluid flows merge.
By Peter Weiss - Earth
Satellites unravel a spot of mystery
Five satellites that happened to be in the right places at the right time may have confirmed the cause of proton auroral spots, aurora-like phenomena that appear high in Earth's atmosphere.
By Sid Perkins -
Toddlers ride rail to tool use
Toddlers' ability to modify their use of a handrail as they walk across a narrow bridge represents an early example of tool use, according to two psychologists.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
Galactic RAVE
A new study of thousands of Milky Way stars and their motion toward and away from Earth should provide new clues about how our galaxy formed.
By Ron Cowen -
19252
Your article says that Robert R. Leben of the University of Colorado operates a Web site that monitors the positions of Gulf of Mexico eddies, but it doesn’t give the Web site. It would be most valuable to the millions of us who live along the gulf. Roy P. FinneyWeeki Wachee, Fla. Two sites you […]
By Science News - Earth
Oceans Aswirl
Whirls of ocean water up to hundreds of kilometers across create biological oases, transport heat from tropical climes to cooler latitudes, and affect everything from offshore oil platforms to long-distance yacht races.
By Sid Perkins - Humans
From the June 10, 1933, issue
BRAINLIKE STALAGMITES FOUND IN MARYLAND CAVE Stalagmite deposits shaped like human brains have been found on the floor of a newly discovered cave in Mount Etna, near Beaver Creek, Md., about 60 miles from Washington. James H. Benn of the Smithsonian Institution staff, who was detailed to make a geological investigation, brought one of them […]
By Science News -
Firefly Alight
The Firefly Files Web site is dedicated to “the sparks of bioluminescent light that inspire awe and wonder around the earth.” Developed by the Museum of Biological Diversity at Ohio State University, this site provides a variety of information about fireflies, from where they live to how they glow. Go to: http://iris.biosci.ohio-state.edu/projects/FFiles/top.html
By Science News - Math
If It Looks Like a Sphere…
A Russian mathematician has proposed a proof of the Poincaré conjecture, a question about the shapes of three-dimensional spaces.