Uncategorized

  1. Math

    Flatland and its sequel bring the math of higher dimensions to the silver screen

    In 1884, Edwin Abbott wrote a strange and enchanting novella called Flatland, in which a square who lives in a two-dimensional world comes to comprehend the existence of a third dimension but is unable to persuade his compatriots of his discovery. Through the book, Abbott skewered hierarchical Victorian values while simultaneously giving a glimpse of […]

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  2. Climate

    Wetter permafrost clings to carbon better

    In 12-year lab study, moist soil samples released less greenhouse gas as they warmed.

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  3. Letters to the editor

    Not-so-smart perception Researchers studying associations between IQ and selected visual tasks (“Less is more for smart perception,” SN: 6/29/13, p. 18) report that tracking small moving foreground objects, a task at which high-IQ subjects excelled, is often more important than detecting large-object motion or attending to background activity. They suggest that for driving or walking […]

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  4. Computing

    Forecasting by computer

    Excerpt from the August 10, 1963, issue of Science News Letter.

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  5. Neuroscience

    Brainwashed

    The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience by Sally Satel and Scott O. Lilienfeld.

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  6. Genetics

    The Sports Gene

    Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein.

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  7. Neuroscience

    The Anorexic Brain

    Neuroimaging improves understanding of eating disorder.

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  8. Planetary Science

    Cassini photo puts Earth in perspective

    Probe captures planet from 1.4 billion kilometers away.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Full moon may mean less sleep

    Slumber waxes and wanes along with lunar rhythm, researchers find with people sleeping in windowless lab.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Gastric bypass surgery causes sugar-burning gut growth in rats

    The rapid improvement in symptoms of diabetes, seen in patients before weight loss begins, may be due to changes in part of the intestine.

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  11. Life

    A flash of light implants false memories in mice

    Researchers alter rodents' recollections by exciting just a few neurons.

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  12. Archaeology

    Notorious Bones

    South African finds enter fray over origins of the human genus.

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