Vol. 172 No. #7
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More Stories from the August 18, 2007 issue

  1. Animals

    Badly matched birds make troubled parents

    Cockatiel pairs that don't cooperate well have trouble raising their chicks.

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  2. Animals

    What’s so great about ‘chuck’?

    A particular flourish in a male frog's call attracts extra interest from predators as well as female frogs, and researchers now have an idea why.

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  3. Earth

    How reading may protect the brain

    People who read well show more resistance to the toxic brain effects of lead exposure.

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  4. Tech

    Uncharted atomic landscapes

    A refinement to electron microscopes enables them not only to visualize atoms but also to identify different elements.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Anti-inflammatory prevents pancreatic cancer in mice

    An anti-inflammatory drug of the COX-2 inhibitor family blocks precancerous lesions in mice prone to pancreatic cancer.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Geyser gawker: Plans for a closer look at Enceladus

    The Cassini spacecraft will change course to take a close look next March at plumes of water vapor emanating from the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

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  7. Mood Bugs: Beetle changes color in fluid fashion

    A Central American beetle changes color in a novel way, using its body fluid to control the reflectivity of its shell.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Calming Factor: DNA vaccine for MS passes initial test

    A DNA vaccine against multiple sclerosis passes a safety trial and shows signs of suppressing immune-directed nerve damage.

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  9. Tech

    A Moment in the Life of a Cell: Microscopic scan images without intruding

    A laser technique similar to a CAT scan produces 3-D images of living cells without the need for chemical staining.

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  10. Materials Science

    Shocking Sheets: Power paper packs a punch

    Ultrathin sheets made from cellulose and carbon nanotubes could serve as flexible, versatile batteries.

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  11. Protein Lineages: Randomness was crucial to ancient genetic changes

    Reconstruction of an ancient protein shows how seemingly unimportant mutations paved the way for its evolution into a molecule with an essential modern role.

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  12. Depression Defense: Sick elderly get mood aid from home treatment

    Instructional therapy to promote coping strategies helps elderly people with incipient blindness ward off depression—at least in the short run.

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  13. Physics

    Road Bumps: Why dirt roads develop a washboard surface

    Experiments and a computer simulation show why dirt roads develop a washboard surface, and indicate the only way to prevent it: Drive very slowly.

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  14. Planetary Science

    Idiosyncratic Iapetus

    The strange appearance of Saturn's moon Iapetus suggests that it was frozen in shape soon after birth, providing a glimpse into conditions in the early solar system.

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  15. Chemistry

    Alien Pizza, Anyone?

    Although many biochemical molecules come in left-handed and right-handed versions, life on Earth uses one version exclusively, and some controversial experiments suggest this preference might not be due to chance.

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  16. Humans

    Letters from the August 18, 2007, issue of Science News

    Exhaustive analysis I would debate the “1,000 watts or more” value attributed to typical adults during strenuous exercise (“Powering the Revolution: Tiny gadgets pick up energy for free,” SN: 6/2/07, p. 344). Hiking up steep slopes, I rarely exceed 250 W myself, and typical hikers are going much slower. The 1,000-watt figure can only apply […]

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