More Stories from the April 10, 2010 issue
- Earth
Country ants make it big in the city
Odorous house ants act like invading aliens when they discover urban living.
- Life
Chameleon tongues snappy even when cold
Collagen gives the creatures a bug-catching advantage in chilly conditions.
- Life
Chicken cells have strong sense of sexual identity
In birds, hormones may not be the last word in determining males and females.
- Health & Medicine
First complete look at families’ genes
Comparing the complete genetic material of family members pinpoints genes involved in three rare inherited diseases.
- Space
Magnetic flows cause sunspot lows, study shows
Observations of gas flows on the solar surface may explain why the sun recently had such a prolonged case of the doldrums; could lead to more accurate predictions for the duration and severity of future solar cycles.
- Psychology
Researchers find early autism signs in some kids
A long-term investigation raises the possibility of identifying 14-month-olds who will develop autism spectrum disorder almost two years later.
- Physics
Supertwisty light proposed
Researchers suggest a never-before-imagined property of electromagnetic fields that could one day yield new types of sensors.
- Plants
Chemists pin down poppy’s tricks for making morphine
Scientists have figured out two of the final key steps in the chain of chemical reactions that the opium poppy uses to synthesize morphine, suggesting possible signaling strategies for new ways of making the drug and its cousin painkillers.
- Humans
One key to teaching toddlers with TV: trickery
Kids under 3 can learn from educational videos if they believe what they’re seeing is real.
- Life
To catch a thief, follow his filthy hands
Bacteria from a person’s hands may provide a new type of fingerprint.
- Space
Spacecraft takes express tour of Martian moon
New images and gravity data reveal details about the origin and composition of Phobos.
- Chemistry
Methane-making microbes thrive under the ice
Antarctica’s ice sheets could hide vast quantities of the greenhouse gas, churned out by a buried ecosystem.
- Science & Society
Intel Science Talent Search spotlights America’s whiz kids
Top winner of the enduring high school science competition takes 2010 prize for work on a space navigation system.
- Math
Big or small, financial bubbles burst alike
New data from the Frankfurt stock exchange show that fleeting financial bubbles behave according to the same mathematical rules as history-making ones.
- Materials Science
Physicists observe quantum properties in the world of objects
A demonstration marries the world of the very small with the everyday, opening new realms for quantum computing and other applications.
- Life
Who reined the dogs in
New genetic data reveals that Fido likely originated in the Middle East.
- Physics
Body heat may draw particles into breathing range
Computer simulations suggest thermal plumes may trap microbes, pollen and dust near a person’s head.
- Physics
Superchilly chemistry
New theory and experiments help reveal how molecules interact in an ultracold system.
- Life
There are rules in fiddler crab fight club
Territorial crustaceans will defend their own rivals, but only to keep stronger ones out.
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Science Future for April 10, 2010
April 18Final day to visit the New York Hall of Science’s hands-on mathematics exhibit. See www.nysci.org/explore/upcoming April 24 – 28The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology meets in Anaheim, Calif. See www.asbmb.org June 2 – 6 Researchers, cultural critics and others meet in New York City to celebrate science. See www.worldsciencefestival.com
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Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River: Nature and Power in the People’s Republic of China by R. Edward Grumbine
A policy scholar analyzes the impact of China’s development on its natural resources. WHERE THE DRAGON MEETS THE ANGRY RIVER: NATURE AND POWER IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA BY R. EDWARD GRUMBINE Island Press, 2010, 240 p., $25.95.
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The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems by Henry Petroski
The approaches of scientists and engineers complement each other, an engineer and historian argues. The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems by Henry Petroski Alfred A. Knopf, 2010, 274 p., $26.95.
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Experimental Evolution by Theodore Garland Jr. and Michael Rose, eds.
Scientists can take to the lab and field to explore the mechanisms of evolution. Experimental Evolution by Theodore Garland Jr. and Michael Rose, eds. Univ. of California Press, 2010, 730 p., $45.
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Making Sense of Autistic Spectrum Disorders by James Coplan
A pediatrician reviews treatments for children with these disorders. Making Sense of Autistic Spectrum Disorders by James Coplan Bantam Books, 2010, 448 p., $25.
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Book Review: The Language of Life: DNA and the Revolution in Personalized Medicine by Francis S. Collins
Review by Rachel Zelkowitz.
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How the Internet will change the world — even more
Recently, 895 Web experts and users were asked by the Pew Research Center and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University in North Carolina to assess predictions about technology and its effects on society in the year 2020. Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington, D.C., discussed the […]
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Happy 20th, Hubble
Flying observatory’s cosmic portraits continue to capture hearts and minds.
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Letters
Hairy Ardi issue In the report on Ardi (“Evolution’s bad girl,” SN: 01/16/10, p. 22), the artist’s illustrations show her in fur. The fact that her purported descendants are relatively hairless has been popularized by Desmond Morris (The Naked Ape, 1967) and Elaine Morgan (The Descent of Woman, 1972). What is the paleoanthropologists’ evidence that […]
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Science Past from the issue of April 9, 1960
CALIFORNIA ZOO APES BECOME “MEDICAL FIRSTS” — Noell, Scoop and Tria, three apes that live in the San Diego zoo, have made medical history. They “came down” with chicken pox while in their zoo cages during a period last summer when there was a high incidence of that disease among children in San Diego County. […]
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65 Short Mysteries You Solve with Math! by Eric Yoder and Natalie Yoder
Math can help solve real-life dilemmas, this collection of puzzles for young adults illustrates. 65 Short Mysteries You Solve with Math! by Eric Yoder and Natalie Yoder Science, Naturally! LLC, 2010, 169 p., $9.95.
