More Stories from the February 11, 2012 issue
- Health & Medicine
Drug gives rats booze-guzzling superpowers
Rodents that consume alcohol along with a compound derived from an ancient herbal remedy get less drunk, recover faster and appear less prone to addiction.
- Life
Eight-legged evolution exploits editing
Octopuses adapt to water temperature with tweaks to how genes are copied, not DNA itself.
- Psychology
Europeans’ heartfelt ignorance
Many people in nine countries don't know how to recognize or react to heart attacks and strokes.
- Earth
Recirculation aided Gulf plume’s degradation
Two new studies help explain fate of pollutants released in the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history.
- Life
Rhino beetle’s horn may be cheap
Outrageous-looking head spikes on the male of the species may not cost much in evolutionary terms.
- Life
Green gleam helps fish see violet
A deep-sea fish's eyes apparently use fluorescence to pick up hard-to-detect hues, researchers conclude.
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- Health & Medicine
Light pot smoking easy on lungs
Infrequent marijuana users show a slight improvement in breathing capacity and middling smokers had no change, a 20-year study shows.
- Earth
Small efforts to reduce methane, soot could have big effect
Simple measures could slow global warming and reduce premature deaths.
- Psychology
Big score for the hot hand
Hot hands exist in professional volleyball and influence game strategy.
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- Psychology
Babies lip-read before talking
Tots acquire the gift of gab by matching adults’ mouth movements to spoken words.
- Health & Medicine
Proteins may warn of diabetic kidney disease risk
Patients who have high levels of compounds called TNF receptors in their blood have a heightened risk of developing renal failure, two studies suggest.
- Climate
Amazon may become greenhouse gas emitter
South America’s massive rain forest may soon release more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbs.
- Humans
Intel Science Talent Search names top 40 finalists
More than 1,800 high school students entered the 2012 competition.
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Science Past from the issue of February 10, 1962
EFFECT OF WEIGHTLESSNESS — Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr.’s experience in weightlessness during his coming orbital flight will not be long enough to cause him any undue stress such as that suffered by Cosmonaut Titov, a U.S. Air Force expert reported. “Experiments by the Russians with animals and men as well as our own experiments […]
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Science Future for February 11, 2012
February 23 As part of National Engineers Week, talk to a child or group for Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. Find resources at bit.ly/zXAZVP March 1 Last day to submit entries to the 2012 Kavli “Save the World Through Science & Engineering” video contest for grades 6–12. See bit.ly/w3iCjM
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SN Online
SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC BLOGImported primate meat hosts potentially dangerous viruses. See “Bush meat can be a viral feast.” LIFE A snake senses prey’s last heartbeats. See “Boas take pulse as they snuff it out.” ATOM & COSMOS A simulation hints at why space is 3-D. Read “String theorists squeeze nine dimensions into three.” BODY […]
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Memory: Fragments of a Modern History by Alison Winter
With examples from police interrogators to hypnotized housewives, a historian describes changing views of memory — what it is, how it’s formed and what it means. Univ. of Chicago, 2012, 310 p., $30
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- Neuroscience
Self as Symbol
The loopy nature of consciousness trips up scientists studying themselves.
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Letters
Finding parasitic behavior Two adjacent stories, both by Tina Hesman Saey, at first glance may appear to be unrelated but in actuality show examples of a well-known phenomenon: parasites adversely affecting the behavior of the host so that the parasite can get to its next victim. The article “Belly bacteria can boss the brain” (SN: […]
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Plant something new
Better produce and protecting food staples at the USDA.
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A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest by William DeBuys
A look at how global warming could affect the American Southwest reveals a landscape in peril. Oxford Univ., 2011, 369 p., $27.95
