More Stories from the April 23, 2005 issue
- Planetary Science
A Martian haven for life?
Images taken by two Mars spacecraft suggest that a volcano on the Red Planet erupted long ago at the confluence of two riverbeds, indicating that the region had two of the prequisites for life: heat and water.
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Obesity may aggravate flu
At least in mice, obesity can greatly exaggerate the severity of flu by impairing the body's immune response.
- Health & Medicine
Company pulls pain drug from market
The Food and Drug Administration has asked Pfizer to stop selling its prescription pain medication valdecoxib (Bextra).
- Earth
Balloons, condoms release likely carcinogens
Balloons and condoms that come in contact with body fluids discharge chemicals suspected of being human carcinogens.
- Planetary Science
Comet mission loses some focus
A camera aboard the Deep Impact spacecraft, set to fire a projectile into the icy heart of Comet Tempel-1 on July 4, is slightly out of focus.
- Health & Medicine
Step up to denser bones
Step aerobics proved better than resistance exercises for building bone density.
- Anthropology
Noses didn’t need cold to evolve
Neandertals evolved big, broad noses not in response to a cold climate, as has often been argued, but in conjunction with the expansion of their upper jaws.
- Anthropology
These spines were made for walking
A new analysis of fossil backbones indicates that human ancestors living around 3 million years ago were able to walk much as people today do.
- Physics
Extreme Matter: Mother of all material flows into view
By making an extremely hot and dense state of matter that, surprisingly, is a liquid, physicists say they may have finally created a sample of matter much like the primordial stuff that permeated the newborn universe and gave rise to all other matter.
- Astronomy
Distant Dust: Asteroid belt or boiling comet?
A swarm of warm dust surrounding a star 41 light-years from Earth may be a sign of the closest extrasolar analog to the solar system's asteroid belt.
- Ecosystems
Ambush Ants: Beware the moldy patch on that branch
Tiny tropical ants build shaggy platforms on plants and hide underneath them, poised to reach out and capture insects that may be far larger than themselves.
- Health & Medicine
Fast Start: Sex readily spreads HIV in infection’s first weeks
People with HIV are many times more infectious to their sexual partners in the weeks or months just after they acquire the virus than they are later on, a study in Uganda demonstrates conclusively.
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Frozen in Time: Gas puts mice metabolically on ice
Researchers have induced a hibernation-like state in mice by exposing them to low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide.
- Tech
Double bubble comes off in a pinch
By nestling droplets inside larger droplets, scientists have created a new strategy for encapsulating food additives and fragrances.
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Mood Brighteners: Light therapy gets nod as depression buster
Brief periods of daily exposure to bright light are an effective treatment option for depression.
- Earth
Coming Storms: Method predicts intensity of U.S. hurricane seasons
A new computer model that analyzes summer-wind patterns can help predict whether the United States will suffer a damaging hurricane season.
- Astronomy
Dark Influence
A study of galaxy clusters tests whether dark matter particles can collide with each other, while other observations show that dark matter doesn't behave as expected near the centers of galaxies.
- Tech
Special Treatment
Researchers are developing nanosize metallic particles that can break down soil and groundwater contaminants faster and more cheaply than any other existing technology.
- Humans
Letters from the April 23, 2005, issue of Science News
The shark as red herring I’m sure you published “A Fishy Therapy,” (SN: 3/5/05, p. 154) in good faith, but I believe that claims for shark cartilage are not made seriously by anyone who studies the role of natural substances in cancer prevention. It was proved ineffective long ago. I think your article does a […]
