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  1. Humans

    Neil Armstrong, first man on moon, dies at 82

    Apollo 11 commander held true to his engineering roots.

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  2. Creating small wonders

    Cell biologist and inventor Gary Greenberg’s career took a turn about 10 years ago when his brother sent him a canister of beach sand. Greenberg placed a pinch under a light microscope. Magnified hundreds of times, the colorful, intricate sand grains resembled beads from a necklace. “I was just blown away. I couldn’t believe that […]

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  3. Letters

    Sun’s speed unclear Sun’s speed unclear In “Sun’s shock wave goes missing” (SN: 6/16/12, p. 17), Nadia Drake reports the speed of the sun through space at 83,500 kilometers per hour, or roughly 11,000 km/h slower than previously thought. Yet in the same issue (“At home in the universe,” p. 22), Alexandra Witze reports the […]

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  4. SN Online

    LIFE Insects practice their own form of suicide bombing. See “Terminator termites have unique technique.” Marina Montresor, SZN, Alfred Wegener Institute ENVIRONMENT Iron fertilizer passes a test as a climate aid in “Field test stashes climate-warming carbon in deep ocean.” SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC BLOG Dental resins may be linked to some behavioral shifts in […]

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  5. Science Future for September 8, 2012

    September 26 The Houston Museum of Natural Science celebrates Oktoberfest with the History and Science of Beer. Learn more at bit.ly/SFhoustOkt September 27–30 The first Wisconsin Science Festival in Madison has hands-on activities and exhibits on the physics of football, the chemistry of urine, Midwest archaeology and more. See bit.ly/SFwiscfest

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  6. Science Past for September 8, 1962

    NEW METHOD USES CRYSTAL TO DETECT COSMIC RAYS — A new method for detecting the cosmic rays that continuously bombard the earth from outer space has been developed. The technique of using a crystal to catch the tracks of cosmic rays, already showing its worth on earth, will be tried from an earth satellite this […]

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  7. Mathematical Excursions to the World’s Great Buildings by Alexander J. Hahn

    Explore math principles behind the designs of structures from the Parthenon to the Sydney Opera House. Princeton Univ., 2012, 317 p., $49.50

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  8. Secret Chambers: The Inside Story of Cells & Complex Life by Martin Brasier

    A paleontologist takes a deep look at the early days of complex cells, more than a billion years ago. Oxford Univ., 2012, 298 p., $29.95

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  9. The Good, the True, and the Beautiful: A Neuronal Approach by Jean-Pierre Changeux

    A neurobiologist ponders Plato’s idea of three fundamental “essences” in the context of the human brain. Yale Univ., 2012, 386 p., $35

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  10. Darwin’s Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution by Rebecca Stott

    This history of evolutionary science sheds light on Darwin’s many predecessors who saw evidence for natural selection. Spiegel & Grau, 2012, 380 p., $27

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  11. Born Together – Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study by Nancy L. Segal

    The story of the Minnesota Twin Study, ongoing since the 1970s, shows the work’s role in untangling the genetics of personality, intelligence and health. Harvard Univ., 2012, 410 p., $49.95

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  12. BOOK REVIEW: Under the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale by Tom Wilber

    Review by Rachel Ehrenberg.

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