Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Humans

    From the January 21, 1933, issue

    SEVEN SLEEPERS CATACOMBS EXPLORED BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS One of the most venerable of Christian legends, running back through the middle ages into late antiquity, is that of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus: seven youths who hid themselves from the persecution of a pagan Roman emperor and awoke 200 years later to find the empire Christian. Then, […]

  2. Earth

    Earth Art

    Brilliant, colorful patches of Earth, as seen in photographs snapped by the Landsat-7 satellite, can look like the work of abstract artists. A number of these beautiful, high-resolution images have now been assembled into an online gallery depicting “Our Earth as Art.” Go to: http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/earthasart/

  3. 19207

    The negotiators of the global persistent organic pollutants (POPs) treaty will include country-specific exemptions for continued use of DDT for malaria control in the approximately two dozen countries still using it. Nevertheless, your article also notes that DDT may soon be unavailable in many malaria-stricken regions. To address this concern, countries should consider some form […]

  4. Humans

    From the June 28, 1930, issue

    MULTIPLE AILERONS When men first began to dream of flying like birds (which they have done ever since the legendary Daedalus), they watched the flight of birds, hoping to catch their trick and learn to imitate them. The many-faceted Leonardo used to spend hours and days watching and sketching pigeons. And when at last the […]

  5. Health & Medicine

    Herbal Activity

    The Alternative Medicine Foundation offers a searchable database that provides scientific and general information about the biochemical activity of a variety of herbs, from Achillea (Yarrow) to Ziziphus (Jujube). The entry for each herb includes warnings about dangers to human health and links to relevant abstracts in the scientific literature. Go to: http://www.herbmed.org

  6. 19206

    Your article has a picture of a “deer stone.” On it are engraved designs of reindeer that bear an astonishing resemblance to a tattoo borne by the 2,400-year old mummy discovered in 1993 in central Asia. Was this noticed by the researchers? Michelle BlanchardOlympia, Wash. Absolutely. William Fitzhugh, an expedition leader, says he was struck […]

  7. 19159

    I read your article with great interest. There was a minor emergence of periodical cicadas this year in the area. However, despite what the article says, I don’t believe it was a brood emerging 4 years early. In 1983, 4 years before the last major emergence, there was a similar minor emergence. The 2000 emergence […]

  8. Humans

    From the January 14, 1933, issue

    NEW TYPE OF ATOM-SMASHING GENERATOR NEARS COMPLETION The new type of electrostatic high-voltage generator being constructed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Round Hill, Mass., with a Research Corporation grant will be in operation in a few weeks. Dr. R.J. Van de Graaff, its inventor, President Karl T. Compton of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, […]

  9. Humans

    World Development News

    SciDev.Net offers news, opinion, and information about science and technology, particularly those aspects that affect developing countries around the world. The Web site maintains extensive “dossiers” on such topics as research ethics, climate change, indigenous knowledge, genetically modified crops, and intellectual property, with more to come. Go to: http://www.scidev.net/

  10. 19219

    We’re not surprised they found sugar in the middle of a Milky Way! Gayle Hunt and David Dawson Seattle, Wash.

  11. 19176

    Your article tells us there are 65 times fewer deaths per mile traveled in flying commercial aircraft than in driving. Fear of being killed in traveling is, I submit, based not on safety per mile traveled but on safety per trip taken. Further, fear of flying is based on the manner of death. If cars, […]

  12. 19218

    Thank you for the article about the wild Bactrian camel. However, one false impression needs correction. The Wild Camel Protection Foundation (WCPF) is not planning a program of captive wild camel embryo transfer in order to release the offspring into the wild. The program’s immediate aim is to increase the number of captive wild stock […]