Uncategorized

  1. 19138

    This article states, “Scientists knew that some small carnivores hunted in packs . . . .” That sounds quite subjective to me. Finding many small theropods together with a possible victim can have many interpretations. Vultures mass at a carcass, but would you say they are pack hunters? Russ AgreenDanton, Md. I can certainly understand […]

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  2. Paleontology

    Dinosaurs, party of six, meat eating

    The bones of six carnivorous dinosaurs discovered in a fossil bed in Patagonia may indicate that big, meat-eating dinosaurs were social creatures.

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  3. Paleontology

    Fossil gets a leg up on snake family tree

    A 95-million-year-old fossil snake with legs may be an advanced big-mouthed snake, not a primitive ancestor.

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  4. Math

    Random packing of spheres

    A new definition of random packing allows a more consistent and mathematically precise approach to characterizing disordered arrangements of identical spheres.

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  5. Math

    Orbiting in a figure-eight loop

    Three gravitationally interacting bodies of equal mass can, according to precise calculations, trace out a figure-eight-shape orbit in space.

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  6. Fading to black doesn’t empower fish

    Field studies of three-spined stickleback fish dash a textbook example of the theory of how one species can take on a competitor's characteristics.

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  7. Hey, we’re richer than we thought!

    The latest inventory of life in the United States has turned up an extra 100,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi.

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  8. Earth

    Titanic iceberg sets sail from Antarctica

    An iceberg about the size of Connecticut recently split off from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

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  9. Planetary Science

    Reviewers see red over recent Mars programs

    NASA's two most recent missions to Mars failed because they were underfunded, managed by inexperienced people, and insufficiently tested, according to a report released March 28.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Cell mixture attacks pancreas tumors

    White blood cells injected into patients with pancreatic tumors incite an immune response that blunts the cancer in some patients and extends survival.

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  11. Lady-killing genes offer pest control

    Two new fruit fly lines—with females that die on cue—could lead to changes in pest control.

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  12. Math

    Stepping Beyond Fibonacci Numbers

    Trying variants of a simple mathematical rule that yields interesting results can lead to additional discoveries and curiosities. The numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and 55 belong to a famous sequence named for the Italian mathematician Fibonacci, who lived more than 700 years ago. Each consecutive number is the sum […]

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