All Stories by Science News
- Humans
Letters from the June 12, 2004, issue of Science News
Go with the flow In “Tales of the Undammed: Removing barriers doesn’t automatically restore river health” (SN: 4/10/04, p. 235: Tales of the Undammed), the photo comparison of the dam site is deceptive because the two photos of the same spot appear to have been taken during different seasons. Hence, the lower photo shows a […]
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19430
In the article, an agronomist claims that farmers “typically apply more fertilizer than their crops need” as an explanation for increased pollution in coastal waters. I don’t know any farmers who risk their products in the way suggested here. An examination of home lawn care would point to a much bigger problem. Mary HeinrichtCulpepper, Va. […]
- Humans
From the June 2, 1934, issue
The first chimpanzee twins born in captivity, increased speed and safety for aircraft, and a new pH indicator.
- Astronomy
Transit of Venus
On June 8, Venus will pass across the face of the sun (as viewed from Earth). Such a transit occurs rarely; the last one was in 1882. A variety of Web sites feature information about these transits and offer advice for observing and timing the 2004 event. Go to: http://www.venustransit.ie/ and http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/sunearthday/2004/index_vthome.htm
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19429
Evidently, death waits for no one, except in Belgium. Around 40 years ago, Belgian doctors went on strike for 3 months. If I remember correctly, their explanation for the fact that the death rate dropped during this period was that their patients hung on until the doctors were back at work! Martin CraggCheshire, England
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19428
The article on nanotubes as light sources was frustratingly sketchy. Any photometric laboratory with a wattmeter could compare the nanotube unit to another light source in a few minutes. It is tempting to think that the heating effect, which must be close to that from a blackbody radiator, and the “electronic effect,” which is undoubtedly […]
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19427
When cyanobacteria and plants transfer electrons photosynthetically, light is absorbed not by their photosynthetic proteins but by chlorophylls. Some of these proteins indeed participate in electron flow, but they are not plant photoreceptors. How then, do they “retain their function” and “absorb photons” in the fabricated solar cell described? Cleon RossVictor, Idaho The materials that […]
- Humans
Letters from the June 5, 2004, issue of Science News
Blackened reputation Again, humans are implicated in the promotion and distribution of our own misery (“Medieval cure-all may actually have spread disease,” SN: 4/3/04, p. 222: Medieval cure-all may actually have spread disease). However, if bitumen was wrongly credited with darkening the skin of mummified remains, what caused it? Robert FizekNewton, Mass. The coating on […]
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19426
Since the hypoxia described in this article isn’t caused directly by the fertilizer, but by the subsequent algae blooms, then perhaps an effective solution is to combat the algae. It might even be profitable to harvest the algae. If the fishing industry is capable of depleting the seas of species that we want there, then […]
- Humans
From the May 26, 1934, issue
Extracting bromine from the sea, a new treatment for cancer, and a novel altimeter.
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19425
The Japanese researchers who dubbed a pachyderm secretion to be “hipposudoric acid” seem to know more about biochemistry than about etymology. The word hippopotamus is a synthesis of Latin hippo (horse) and potamus (river), apparently because of the resemblance of the face of a submerged hippopotamus to the head of a horse. Hipposudoric implies a […]
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19424
This article seems to use “aspirin” and “acetaminophen” interchangeably. Aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid, not acetaminophen (better known as Tylenol). Tom WarmMustang, Okla.
