Vol. 164 No. #23
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More Stories from the December 6, 2003 issue

  1. Health & Medicine

    Two markers may predict heart risk

    Two proteins that play a role in inflammation may serve as indicators of a person's risk of heart disease and stroke.

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  2. Planetary Science

    Martian sand ripples are taller than Earth’s

    New data gathered by a Mars-orbiting probe suggest that large ripples found in sandy areas of the Red Planet are more than twice as tall as their terrestrial counterparts.

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  3. Plants, bats magnify neurotoxin in Guam

    Researchers have found that the natural neurotoxin BMAA gets magnified as it rises through a food chain on Guam, a finding that strengthens a recent hypothesis that attempts to explain a spike in neurological disease on that island.

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  4. Humans

    Nanotech bill gives field a boost

    Congress has approved a nanotechnology act that commits $3.7 billion in funding over 4 years and calls for research on the societal, environmental, and ethical implications of this rapidly growing field.

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  5. Humans

    Letters

    Letters from the Dec. 6, 2003, issue of Science News.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    No Scope: CT scan works as well as colonoscopy

    A computed tomography scan of the large intestine works as well as colonoscopy in detecting signs of colon cancer.

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  7. Astronomy

    Solar Flip-Flops: Sun storms spawn magnetic reversal

    Coronal mass ejections, billion-ton clouds of charged particles blasted from the sun, appear to play a key role in reversing the sun's magnetic poles every 11 years.

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  8. Earth

    Cloud Chemistry: Atmospheric scientists dissect cirrus clouds

    Cirrus cloud formation is influenced by the particles in the atmosphere, including pollutants.

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  9. Seek and Destroy: Virus attacks cancer, spares normal cells

    A virus carried by mosquitoes naturally homes in on cancer cells and destroys them.

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  10. Paleontology

    Proud paleontologists proclaim: It’s a boy!

    Marine sediments deposited about 425 million years ago have yielded what scientists contend is the world’s oldest undoubtedly male fossil.

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  11. Allies in Therapy: Depression fix feeds off patient-therapist bond

    Psychotherapy's ability to quell symptoms of depression may depend more on the therapeutic alliance, a measure of the bond between patient and therapist, than on any specific techniques wielded by the therapist.

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  12. Physics

    Doppler Toppler: Experiment upends normal frequency shift

    The expected drop in frequency of a signal from a receding source—the Doppler effect—becomes a frequency increase when a high-current electric pulse creates extraordinary electromagnetic conditions in a web of electrical components.

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  13. Ecosystems

    New Farmers: Salt marsh snails plow leaves, fertilize fungus

    A salt marsh snail works the leaves of a plant in what researchers say looks like a simple form of farming.

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  14. Tech

    Wings of Change

    Inspired by the Wright brothers, who steered their first flyer by twisting its pliant wings, engineers are developing versatile and flexible flying machines expected to undergo radical shape changes in flight.

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  15. Tiny Bubbles

    Microscopic vesicles shed by cells may help the AIDS virus, benefit cancer cells, and drive the immune response.

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