All Stories by Science News
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19282
That draining wetlands leads to a greater likelihood of frosts and freezes in southern Florida was noted nearly a century ago. In The Commodore’s Story (1930, R. Munroe and V. Gilpin, Washburn), Ralph Munroe commented that “the ‘frost line’ moved spasmodically down the state as drainage decreased the water area and apparently influenced the temperature.” […]
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19357
In this article, the white cliffs of Dover are offered as a “notable example” of the precipitated carbonate deposits some have expected to find had Mars been wet and warm in the past. The Dover chalks are an unfortunate choice for comparison because they’re composed primarily of the calcitic remains of microscopic marine phytoplankton. As […]
- Tech
Craft Tech
The Craft Technology Group at the University of Colorado, Boulder, interweaves computation with craft materials both new and old. This Web site offers glimpses of innovative projects involving the use of software to design mechanical toys and paper sculptures, embedding computation and behavior in simple objects such as tacks and hinges, developing affordable three-dimensional printing, […]
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19281
This article cites reports that the shape of the universe is that of a soccer ball. An image in the article shows that the soccer ball appears as a mirror image of itself when viewed through each of its faces. If the universe were a finite bubble and there were an infinite number of universe […]
- Humans
From the October 28, 1933, issue
WEATHERMEN UNWITTINGLY POSE HALLOWEEN PICTURE Not ancient warlocks making weather but modern scientists just making a record of it, unintentionally posed a good Halloween picture on the top of Mount Washington, with the aid of a cat that doesn’t like the wind. The photograph has nothing of the mellowness of autumn about it–quite naturally, since […]
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19356
A simpler explanation for ancient humans’ use of red ocher might be cosmetics, much as in modern mortuary practice. A dusting of red ocher would offset the blue pallor that results when blood flow ceases. No deep, dark symbolism was necessarily involved. Virgil H. SouleFrederick, Md. Any mortuary practice involves symbolism. Simply burying a person’s […]
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19355
In 1993, Israeli physicist Moti Milgrom showed an adjustment to the way gravity is calculated that would make dark matter go away in Newton’s system for calculating gravity. If Milgrom’s math were used in the survey for dark matter in your article, would it also make dark matter go away? O. Frank TurnerWestminster Colo. Most […]
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- Physics
Shedding Light on the Infrared
For students and teachers, this NASA-sponsored Web site offers illuminating insights into infrared light. It explains the fundamentals of infrared astronomy, using animations, images, classroom lessons and activities, games, and more. Take a look at infrared views of familiar objects, from Yellowstone’s “Old Faithful” geyser to a pot-bellied pig. Go to: http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/
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19354
It is quite sad that your otherwise-excellent publication systematically fails to report error bars in your reports. Time and again I read articles and am left wondering whether the effect reported is even statistically significant. As just one example, this article said that the rate of subsequent infection from breast milk dropped from 12 percent […]
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From the October 21, 1933, issue
COULD YOU DO THIS AT 18 MONTHS? Could you climb a smooth slide as the baby on the front cover does when you were a year and a half old? Of course not. But perhaps you could have, had you been given the training that 18-month-old Johnny, pictured in one of his favorite exercises, has […]
