Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Science Past from the issue of May 6, 1961

    PATENTS OF THE WEEK — “Inventions for the home of tomorrow” were the theme of several inventions just patented. Two improved methods for rocking the cradle electrically have been invented. The main advantage of the “motor driven cradle” … is that it can be made inexpensively. It also has a timer and an adjustment that […]

  2. Science Future for May 7, 2011

    May 21–22 Shoot off rockets and hear astronomers sing in Raleigh, N.C. Go to naturalsciences.org May 26 Application deadline for the Commerce Department’s i6 Green Challenge for energy entrepreneurs. For info, go to www.eda.gov/i6 June 15–18 Around Boston, cheer on young inventors, tackle design tasks and marvel at cool technologies. See eurekafest2011.org

  3. SN Online

    Highlights from recent online-only stories.

  4. Letters

    Promising new Alzheimer’s model “Memories can’t wait” (SN: 3/12/11, p. 24) was a well-written analysis of the problems facing those of us working in the field of geriatric psychology. The new research model based on inflammation is very promising. From a cost-benefit standpoint, early diagnosis and preventive treatment of potential Alzheimer’s patients will be essential […]

  5. Book Review: Science Fair Season: Twelve Kids, a Robot Named Scorch . . . and What It Takes to Win by Judy Dutton

    Review by Erika Engelhaupt.

  6. Book Review: The New Cool: A Visionary Teacher, His FIRST Robotics Team, and the Ultimate Battle of Smarts by Neal Bascomb

    Review by Devin Powell.

  7. Success with Science: The Winners’ Guide to High School Research by Shiv Gaglani, ed.

    In this guide to high school research, five Harvard students and past competition winners give tips on project ideas, finding mentors and more. Research Corp. for Science Advancement, 2011, 180 p., $19.95.       

  8. The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun: Cool Hacks, Cutting-Edge Games, and More Awesome Projects for the Whole Family by Ken Denmead

    All the entertainment a geek family could want is packed into this how-to book, from backyard zip lines to homemade robots. Gotham Books, 2011, 227 p., $18.

  9. Strange New Worlds: The Search for Alien Planets and Life beyond Our Solar System by Ray Jayawardhana

    Engaging stories of astronomers and their quest to find Earthlike planets orbiting distant suns, and even signs of life. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011, 255 p., $24.95.           

  10. Bad Science by Linda Zimmermann

    A brief history of science blunders through the ages, including radium cures and phrenology, the reading of head bumps. Eagle Press, 2011, 224 p., $14.95.

  11. Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 by Michio Kaku

    A physicist interviews over 300 scientists and lays out a mostly rosy vision of research advances that he predicts will shape the world by 2100. Doubleday, 2011, 389 p., $28.95.

  12. Body & Brain

    Hockey concussions take progressively longer to heal, plus rotavirus vaccines and declining stillbirths in this week’s news.