More Stories from the February 10, 2007 issue
- Planetary Science
Solar craft get into position
With the assist of gravitational boosts from the moon, twin spacecraft have completed a series of maneuvers that will enable them to take three-dimensional images of the sun.
- Tech
Wrinkle, wrinkle, little polymer
Scientists have developed a cheap and easy way to create specific patterns of tiny wrinkles on the surface of a flexible and commonly used polymer, a technique that could be used to fabricate an assortment of microdevices.
- Earth
Corn, a new sensor of carbon dioxide
Scientists have developed a way to use corn plants to monitor and map human-generated emissions of carbon dioxide.
- Health & Medicine
Many babies born short of vitamin D
Even in the womb, babies face a high risk of vitamin D deficiency.
- Ecosystems
An unexpected, thriving ecosystem
A diverse group of creatures beneath an Antarctic ice shelf could give pause to researchers who infer past ecological conditions from fossils found in such sediments.
- Animals
Glittering male seeks fluorescing female
A tropical jumping spider needs ultraviolet light for courtship.
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Food smells reduce diet’s life-extending benefits
The scent of food may decrease the life-extending effects of a low-calorie diet.
- Animals
Do flies eat their sibs before birth?
A tiny fly that parasitizes cicadas could be the first insect species that's recognized to practice prenatal cannibalism.
- Earth
From Bad to Worse: Earth’s warming to accelerate
Global warming is real and will continue, and there's strong evidence that people are to blame, an international panel of scientists has concluded.
- Health & Medicine
Fatal Flaw? Antibleeding drug faces new safety questions
The drug commonly used to slow bleeding during heart surgery increases a patient's risk of dying during the next 5 years.
- Earth
Why So Dry? Ocean temperatures alone don’t explain droughts
Evidence from ancient dunes points to three periods of prolonged drought in the U.S. Great Plains, but finding their causes may be more complex than previously supposed.
- Health & Medicine
Ingredient Shuffle: A trans fat substitute might have risks too
A controversial trial of a chemically modified fat called an interesterified fat suggests that it is more harmful than is a trans fat–rich, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
- Tech
Transferred Touch: Sensory rewiring to improve prosthetics
Transferring a lost limb's nerves to other areas of the body might one day permit an amputee to feel the heat of a coffee cup with an artificial hand.
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Online Victims: Internet behaviors make targets of some kids
A national telephone survey indicates that one in five kids, ages 10 to 17, encountered instances of unwanted sexual solicitation or harassment online in the past year.
- Humans
More of the Same: 2008’s science budget mirrors 2007’s
President Bush's proposed science budget for fiscal year 2008 closely reflects last year's recommended budget.
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Well-Tooled Primates
People may have leaned on ancient primate-brain capacities to begin making stone tools by 2.5 million years ago, a transition that possibly spurred the development of language and other higher mental faculties.
- Health & Medicine
Vice Vaccines
Vaccines currently in development could give people a novel way to kick their addictions and lose weight.
- Humans
Letters from the February 10, 2007, issue of Science News
Grape gripe “A Toast to Healthy Hearts: Wine compounds benefit blood vessels” (SN: 12/2/06, p. 356) leaves us up in the air with this statement: “. . . since the traditional wine-making techniques still in use in southwestern France and Sardinia increase concentrations of polymeric procyanidins, he says, other vintners may soon adopt such methods.” […]
