More Stories from the April 8, 2006 issue
- Health & Medicine
Parasite can’t survive without its tail
The protozoan that causes African sleeping sickness can't survive in the mammalian bloodstream without its long, whiplike tail.
- Animals
Sharpshooter threatens Tahiti by inedibility
A North American insect is menacing Tahitian ecosystems by getting itself killed and proving surprisingly toxic to its predators.
- Anthropology
Chimps scratch out grooming requests
Pairs of adult males in a community of wild African chimps often communicate with gestures.
- Humans
Two-fifths of Amazonian forest is at risk
The Amazon basin's forest may lose 2.1 million square kilometers by 2050 if current development trends go unabated.
- Health & Medicine
Experimental drug targets Alzheimer’s
A novel drug reverses some Alzheimer's-type symptoms in mice.
- Astronomy
Twin history
The Milky Way and its nearest large galactic neighbor, Andromeda, are more alike than earlier evidence had indicated.
- Planetary Science
Another red spot, by Jove
Jupiter has developed a second red spot, which is now visible in the predawn sky with a telescope 10 inches or larger.
- Earth
Volcanic mineral caused rare cancer in Turkey
In two Turkish villages, nearly half of all deaths since 1980 have resulted from a form of cancer caused by inhaling erionite, a brittle and fibrous volcanic mineral that looks similar to wool.
- Health & Medicine
See Blind Mice: Algae gene makes sightless eyes sense light
Scientists have prompted mouse-eye cells that aren't normally light sensitive to respond to light.
- Astronomy
Ring around the Pulsar: Planets may form in a harsh environment
Astronomers have found a disk that has the potential to make planets in the harsh environment surrounding the ultradense remains of an exploded star.
- Materials Science
Wired Viruses: New electrodes could make better batteries
With the aid of a bacteria-infecting virus, researchers have engineered cobalt oxide-and-gold nanowires that can be used as electrodes for lithium-ion batteries.
- Health & Medicine
Polyp Stopper: Controversial drug may prevent colon growths
An anti-inflammatory drug currently prescribed for arthritis and pain can prevent formation of precancerous growths in the colon and rectum.
- Anthropology
Mystery Drilling: Ancient teeth endured dental procedures
Researchers have discovered the oldest known examples of dental work, 11 teeth with drilled holes dating to between 9,000 and 7,500 years ago.
- Humans
A Shot against Pandemic Flu: Vaccines would play pivotal role in response
Mass vaccination should be the linchpin of the U.S. response to an influenza pandemic, according to new computer simulations.
- Health & Medicine
Building a Bladder: Patients for the first time benefit from lab-grown organs
The humble bladder is now the world's first bioengineered internal organ to work in people.
- Materials Science
Spin City
Researchers are using a technique called electrospinning to create fibrous mats that have potential applications in drug delivery, wound care, and tissue engineering.
- Physics
Revealing Covert Actions
The recent merger of high-speed video technology and centuries-old techniques for seeing ordinarily invisible fluctuations of the air is enabling engineers to visualize and study the previously unseen, large-scale behavior of shock waves in explosions and aerodynamics research.
- Humans
Letters from the April 8, 2006, issue of Science News
Hot and cold “Warming climate will slow ocean circulation” (SN: 2/4/06, p. 77) makes me wonder, Does continental drift cause occasional changes to the ocean’s currents? Would major reorganizations of ocean currents tend to cause ice ages by temporarily disrupting the flow of warm water that normally keeps the ice at bay? Would simulations of […]
