Vol. 168 No. #29
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More Stories from the December 24, 2005 issue

  1. Tech

    Nanotubes spring eternal

    Researchers have discovered that forests of carbon nanotubes squish and expand like foams, but with extraordinary resilience.

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  2. Astronomy

    A puny way to make planets

    Brown dwarfs are failures in the star-making business, but new observations reveal that they may still succeed in growing planets.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Ebola may travel on the wing

    Fruit bats can carry the Ebola virus, suggesting that they may spread it in Africa.

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  4. Earth

    Lab tests hint at where xenon hides out

    Results of recent experiments in which scientists squeezed a mixture of xenon and powdered quartz at high temperatures and pressures may explain why the gas is found at relatively low concentrations in the atmosphere.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Rare marrow cells tackle deadly immune reaction

    Researchers have developed a new technique to counter graft-versus-host disease, a common complication of treating blood cancers with marrow-cell transfusions.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Molecule marks leukemia cells

    Researchers can now single out malignant cells in the bone marrow of patients with acute myeloid leukemia by using an antibody that latches on to a newfound cell protein.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Old drug, new trick

    The drug rapamycin, now used in transplants, may make chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia more effective.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Transfusions harm some heart patients

    Patients who undergo coronary-bypass surgery frequently receive unnecessary blood transfusions as part of their follow-up care.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Protein predicts sickle-cell danger

    A biological marker of heart trouble can be used to identify sickle-cell anemia patients who are at greatest risk of developing a serious, disease-related complication.

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  10. Earth

    Ozone hole might not recover until the year 2065

    The ozone-free zone that develops high in the atmosphere over Antarctica each summer as the result of the presence of chlorine- and bromine-containing chemicals may not heal until 15 years later than previously projected.

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  11. Earth

    Where steel-belted radials go to die

    A new technique for analyzing satellite images may enable researchers to easily identify sites where large numbers of used tires have been dumped.

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  12. Counting on technology to count elephants

    Researchers now spend large amounts of time in remote areas to count and monitor the movements of large animals such as elephants, but in the future they may use seismic instruments to do the job.

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  13. Earth

    Satellite makes finest map yet of Antarctica

    Using data gathered by a satellite launched almost 3 years ago, scientists have assembled the most comprehensive high-resolution map of Antarctica that's ever been made.

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  14. Paleontology

    Mammoth Findings: Asian elephant is closest living kin

    DNA studies suggest that the woolly mammoth is more closely related to the Asian elephant than to the African elephant.

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  15. Pumping Out Hope: Stem cells secrete brain-preserving protein

    Researchers have turned stem cells into living drug pumps that could eventually treat Parkinson's disease.

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  16. Health & Medicine

    Mixing Vessel: Air pollution helps cholesterol clog arteries

    When paired with a diet high in fat, breathing polluted air on a regular basis accelerates the accumulation of dangerous plaques in arteries.

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  17. Tech

    Narrow Escape: Sharp nanogutters hustle out wetness

    Nanochannels with sharply tapered edges can dramatically boost fluid flow rates and potentially play a role in improved microchip cooling, fabrics to wick away perspiration, and other uses.

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  18. Animals

    Ant Iron Chefs: Larvae fix dinner but don’t sneak snacks

    Movies of an ant colony show that larvae are the ones that prepare dinner when meat is on the menu. With Video.

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  19. Chemistry

    Mixed Message: Pheromone blend sends signal

    The meaning of a chemical message released by male Asian elephants depends on the chemical's total concentration as well as on the balance of the chemical's two forms.

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  20. Humans

    Stem Cell Controversy: Scientist is retracting landmark finding

    A South Korean researcher who claimed to have cloned the first human embryonic stem cell is now asking that some of his published work be retracted.

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  21. Earth

    Beyond the ABC’s: North Atlantic posts record hurricane season

    The 2005 hurricane season in the North Atlantic shattered a number of records, including several that were decades old.

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  22. Humans

    Science News of the Year 2005

    A review of important scientific achievements reported in Science News during the year 2005.

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  23. Humans

    Archival Science

    Photos from the Science Service archive at the Smithsonian offer fresh views of the Scopes evolution trial.

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  24. Ecosystems

    Squirt Alert

    A sea animal of unknown origins and lacking any known predator has begun commandeering ecosystems in cool coastal waters throughout the world.

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  25. Humans

    Irreplaceable Perplexity 101

    An imaginary classroom provides lessons on the all-too-real debate over evolution and intelligent design.

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  26. Humans

    Letters from the December 24 & 31, 2005, issue of Science News

    Bends, the truth I very much enjoyed “Cool Birds” (SN: 10/22/05, p. 266). What struck me, however, was a passage that mentioned the “bird’s resistance to the bends” and the researchers’ alleged inability to explain that. As a scuba diver, I know that the bends, or decompression sickness, is caused by breathing compressed air underwater. […]

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