More Stories from the April 28, 2001 issue
- Astronomy
Gamma-ray bursts reveal distant galaxies
A gamma-ray burst recorded Feb. 22, one of the brightest ever detected, is proving to be the strongest evidence so far that these cosmic flashbulbs originate in star-forming regions of distant galaxies and are generated by the explosive death of massive stars.
- Astronomy
Raging sun provides earthly light show
At the tumultous peak of its 11-year activity cycle, the sun is spitting out X-ray flares and belching giant clouds of high-energy particles at a furious rate.
- Astronomy
Solar cannibalism
Billion-ton clouds of charged gas hurled from the sun can overtake and eat their slower-moving gaseous brethren, complicating predictions of when and if one of these clouds might strike Earth.
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Huntington’s protein may be kidnapper
An abnormal protein associated with Huntington's disease kills cells by stealing another protein needed for cell survival.
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Worm sperm stimulate ovulation
A sperm protein for movement also prompts egg maturation and ovulation.
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Weather cycles may drive toad decline
For the first time, scientists have linked a global climate pattern to a specific mechanism of amphibian decline.
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When parents let kids go hungry
Researchers comparing Northern and Southern birds have confirmed a prediction about parents protecting themselves at their offsprings' expense.
- Anthropology
Peru Holds Oldest New World City
Construction of massive ceremonial buildings and residential areas at a Peruvian site began 4,000 years ago, making it the earliest known city in the Americas.
- Health & Medicine
Novel typhoid vaccine surpasses old ones
A new vaccine links a sugar molecule found on the surface of the bacterium that causes typhoid fever with a genetically engineered version of the exotoxin protein, which arouses the immune system to churn out antibodies against the bacterium.
- Paleontology
Did fibers and filaments become feathers?
A variety of filamentary structures on the fossil of a small theropod dinosaur recently found in China may provide new insight into the evolution of feathers.
- Tech
New device opens next chapter on E-paper
Researchers have developed a paperlike plastic that could become the pages of the first electronic books and newspapers.
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Senior bees up all night caring for larvae
Honeybees turn out to be the first insect known to change circadian rhythms just because of a social cue, a crisis in the nursery.
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Teams find probable gene for sweet sense
Two labs tasted victory in a race to identify a candidate gene for controlling our proverbial sweet tooth.
- Astronomy
Sounds of the universe confirm Big Bang
Two experiments examining the detailed structure of the cosmic microwave background, the relic radiation from the Big Bang, have confirmed the basic model of how cosmologists believe the universe evolved.
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Back from the Brink
Psychological and supportive programs for schizophrenia sufferers, often used in combination with antipsychotic drugs, are attracting increasing research interest in the United States and Europe.
