Vol. 168 No. #8
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More Stories from the August 20, 2005 issue

  1. Astronomy

    Big sky

    The biggest survey of the heavens just got bigger when the Sloan Digital Sky Survey received a 3-year extension.

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  2. Tech

    Roughing up counterfeiters

    A new anticounterfeiting scheme generates unique, reproducible identity codes that could be used to authenticate passports, credit cards, and other items on the basis of inherent, microscopic irregularities in the items' surfaces.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Tracking busy genes to get at cancer

    By identifying which genes are overactive in certain breast tumors, researchers have discovered a genetic signature that could help doctors predict if and when a woman's cancer might spread to her lungs.

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  4. Earth

    Inhaling salt raises blood pressure

    People who work in environments where large amounts of salt particles hang in the air may literally breathe their way to high blood pressure.

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  5. Materials Science

    Fine Fabric: New, fast way to make sheets of nanotubes

    Scientists have come up with a way to efficiently produce thin, transparent sheets of carbon nanotubes that are several meters long.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Outwitting TB: Enhanced vaccine protects mice in lab tests

    An enhanced vaccine appears to offer better protection against tuberculosis than the current version does, a study in mice suggests.

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  7. Anthropology

    Reservoirs of Evolution: Rainy periods linked to human origins in Africa

    Three phases of heavy rainfall in eastern Africa between 2.7 million and 900,000 years ago created deep lakes and might have played a critical role in the evolution of human ancestors.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Comb over Chemicals: Tool may rid heads of pesticideproof lice

    Used systematically, special combs may be more effective than insecticidal shampoos at ridding a child's scalp of head lice.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    X Ray Excels: Technique brings a new image to medicine

    Recent advances in a technique called phase-contrast x-ray imaging could make it easier for physicians to spot tumors, clogged arteries, and other soft-tissue problems.

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  10. Bitty Beasts of Burden: Algae can carry cargo

    Scientists have devised a way to make single-cell algae bear loads over distances of several centimeters, a tactic that could prove useful in tiny machines.

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  11. Animals

    Getting the Gull: Baiting trick spreads among killer whales

    A young male orca that spits up fish and then ambushes gulls attracted to the mess seems to have started a wave of cultural transmission.

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  12. Animals

    Myth of the Bad-Nose Birds

    Even though a lot of people still believe birds have no sense of smell, certain species rely on their noses for important jobs, such as finding food and shelter, and maybe even a mate.

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  13. Health & Medicine

    Potent Medicine

    Drugs now used to treat erectile dysfunction might soon assume multiple roles in managing heart disease and other conditions, including some that affect women and infants.

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  14. Humans

    Letters from the August 20, 2005, issue of Science News

    Just a little gas “Energy on Ice” (SN: 6/25/05, p. 410) states that the gas-hydrate deposit near Prudhoe Bay “contains more than 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. That’s twice the total amount of natural gas consumed annually in the United States. …” Does it behoove us to invest the time and dollars it will […]

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