Uncategorized
- Earth
Turbulence leads to early rain of ash
A new aerodynamic analysis suggests that chaotic turbulence in a high-altitude cloud of volcanic ash can cause small particles of the ash to clump together and fall to the ground much closer to the volcano than expected.
By Sid Perkins - Materials Science
Getting Out the Thorn
Researchers are developing new ways to improve the compatibility of implantable biomaterials in the body.
- Earth
Hormones: Here’s the Beef
Runoff of the hormones excreted by steroid-treated livestock could subtly harm aquatic life.
By Janet Raloff -
18983
From a cattleman’s perspective, I would like to add to your timely article that besides the benefits that would come to the environment from stopping the use of pharmaceutical growth promoters in cattle, we would also have a more tender product to market. An under-reported side effect of the use of growth stimulants is about […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Garlic interferes with HIV drug
Garlic supplements interact negatively with a protease inhibitor medication taken by people infected with HIV.
By Ben Harder -
18982
I enjoy Science News very much but not the occasional article singing the praises of alcoholic beverages, particularly red wine, as a benefit to the cardiovascular system (“A glass of red may keep the arteries loose,” SN: 1/5/02, p. 8). When the articles become specific concerning the substances that bring the benefit, they refer to […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
A glass of red may keep arteries loose
A newly uncovered effect of a compound abundant in red wines may provide the mechanism needed to explain how reds could outperform whites and rosés in reducing heart disease.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Prenatal folate averts child leukemia
Even a little supplementary folate during pregnancy now appears to reduce the risk that the child will develop acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
By Ben Harder - Astronomy
Sampling the sun
A spacecraft has begun a 30-month mission in which it will collect samples of the solar wind and bring them back to Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Astronomy
Watching a dying star transform
Astronomers have for the first time caught a dying star at the very beginning of a brief, shining period, when it's known as a planetary nebula.
By Ron Cowen -
For some heart patients, days are numbered
Cardiac deaths among Chinese and Japanese residents of the United States peak on the fourth day of each month, possibly due to psychological stress from their widespread belief that the number 4 is linked to death.
By Bruce Bower - Ecosystems
Mistletoe, of all things, helps juniper trees
A mistletoe that grows on junipers may do the trees a favor by attracting birds that spread the junipers' seeds.
By Susan Milius