Uncategorized
- Astronomy
Ancient Mars water: A deep source?
A new analysis of a Mars meteorite that fell to Earth suggests that much of the water believed to have once flowed on the surface of the Red Planet came from eruptions of molten rock that originated deep within the planet.
By Ron Cowen - Earth
A Nation Aflame
In the wake of one of the worst fire seasons in the past 50 years, scientists are assessing risk as more people move into fire-prone areas and developing ways to better predict the behavior of--and the potential for--wildfires.
By Sid Perkins - Astronomy
Distant cluster suggests low-weight cosmos
Lured by the radio beacon of a faraway galaxy, astronomers have discovered the most distant cluster of galaxies known in the universe.
By Ron Cowen -
Can visiting a plant ruin an experiment?
Merely walking up to a plant and handling its leaves may skew outcomes in studies of predators attacking plants.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Active lung gene signals cancer spread
The newly discovered LUNX gene, active only in lungs and in lung tumors that have spread outside that organ, may help in determining which lung cancer patients are likely to suffer a recurrence.
By Nathan Seppa - Physics
Seeming sedate, some solid surfaces seethe
Although they're as orderly as bathroom-floor tiles, surface atoms of copper--and perhaps other solids--actually roam randomly and widely within their grid.
By Peter Weiss - Health & Medicine
Color array reveals breast cancer types
A suite of genes lights up when researchers probe for cancer.
- Health & Medicine
Sometimes an antibiotic is much more
By reining in destructive enzymes in the body, tetracyclines can thwart various diseases, including periodontal bone loss and cancer.
By Janet Raloff - Paleontology
Extinctions Tied to Impact from Space
Evidence trapped in 250-million-year-old sediments may help researchers pin the ultimate blame for the massive extinctions that occurred then on the impact of an extraterrestrial object about 9 kilometers across.
By Sid Perkins - Math
Appealing Numbers
The ancient Greeks, especially the Pythagoreans, were fascinated by whole numbers. They defined as “perfect” numbers those equal to the sum of their parts (or proper divisors, including 1). For example, 6 is the smallest perfect number-the sum of its three proper divisors: 1, 2, and 3. The next perfect number is 28, which is […]
-
From the February 21, 1931, issue
WHAT BABIES THINK ABOUT What are baby’s secret thoughts? Babies understand what is said long before they are able to speak, psychologists have discovered. Wherefore, parents are reminded to think before they talk in front of even very young infants and to count to 10, or 110, before indulging in a family tiff while the […]
By Science News - Physics
The Atoms Family
Dracula doesn’t want to suck your blood. He wants you to enter his online library and learn about the properties of light, waves, and particles. Here at “The Atoms Family” Web pages, created by the Miami Museum of Science, Dracula and four other silver-screen ghouls invite Web surfers into their laboratories to try out physics […]
By Science News