Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. 19295

    In this article, it was assumed that people who switched from planes to cars after the terrorist attacks did so because of fear. However, many people who switched probably did so because of the inconvenience of added airport security. But before these extra deaths can be blamed on fear, security, or something else, it is […]

  2. 19294

    This article seems to be delivering good news for the environment: “Clean” hydrogen can be produced from water using solar energy. This seems to me, however, to be even more horrifying than the burning of fossil fuels, which I believe we will be able to survive quite well without, once we consume them all. Will […]

  3. 19293

    I’m sure the new therapies, including drug therapy, outlined in this article will greatly help many people. I was unhappy, however, to see that the drug D-cycloserine was going to be used to help people overcome their fear of public speaking. I had a great fear of public speaking, but 1 year in the club […]

  4. 19292

    I thought that the X and Y chromosomes determined gender in animals, but I see no mention of them in your article. Does this mean that on a genetic basis, males and females in these organisms are identical? Neil H. MurphyWalnut Creek, Calif. In a sense, yes, says Philip Hastings of the Scripps Oceanographic Institute […]

  5. 19370

    The contrast between the first and last sentences of your article is puzzling. The introduction states that the experimental drug “causes minimal side effects.” The piece ends with an observation, “Seven percent of volunteers died” and specifies drug-related complications as the cause. This would hardly qualify as a minimal side effect and should certainly discourage […]

  6. Humans

    From the January 6, 1934, issue

    alt=”Click to view larger image”> DR. THORNDIKE HONORED Dr. Edward L. Thorndike, psychologist and educator of Teachers College, Columbia University, was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Thorndike, whose picture is reproduced on the cover, has been associated with Teachers College since before the turn of the century and […]

  7. Physics

    Sounds of Music

    Interested in the relationship between musical instruments and the physics of sound? This Rice University Web site offers illustrated explanations of physics terms such as pitch, frequency, and standing waves. It also demonstrates tuning systems, intervals, octaves, and more. There’s a quiz at the end of each module. Go to: http://cnx.rice.edu/content/m11060/latest/

  8. 19369

    Your article gives American beef eaters a false sense of security. Yes, only 1 cow out of the 20,000 tested has been discovered to have bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). However, over 35 million cows were slaughtered in the United States last year, meaning that only 0.06 percent of all cows slaughtered were tested for BSE. […]

  9. Humans

    Letters

    Letters from the Jan. 10, 2004, issue of Science News.

  10. 19365

    I do not know about the rest of your readers, but I do “hear” at least some low frequency sounds, but not with my ears. The nerves in my feet feel these vibrations and my brain parses the sounds to my flight-or-fright processor before I can process any conscious perception. Ray BryanSt. Paul, Minn.

  11. 19360

    In the arts, we say that material, such as paper, that deteriorates readily because of its composition has “internal vice.” I suppose that could be said of newspapers on several grounds. Lawrence Wallin Santa Barbara, Calif.

  12. Humans

    From the December 30, 1933, issue

    NEW PIPE LINE TO BRING MORE WATER TO LOS ANGELES More water for Los Angeles is the purpose of the big steel serpent that the front cover of this weeks Science News Letter strikingly pictures climbing a mountain. This project, an achievement of electric welding, is conquering canyon and straddling mountain to join Boquet Canyon […]