More Stories from the February 15, 2003 issue
- Earth
9/11 ash, and more, found in river muck
Sediment cores pulled from the Hudson River near the World Trade Center site contain a thin layer of metal-rich ash and pulverized debris.
- Chemistry
Synthetic molecule may treat anemia
Researchers have created a new form of the protein erythropoietin (EPO) using synthetic chemistry techniques.
- Physics
Streams plus nanostrands equals electricity
A dense bundle of carbon nanotubes develops a voltage difference along its length when immersed in a slow-flowing liquid.
- Astronomy
Starry eruption on a grand scale
Monitoring the bloated star Rho Cassiopeiae, astronomers report they witnessed an explosion that blasted more material into space than any other stellar explosion ever observed.
- Health & Medicine
Worms offer the skinny on fat genes
The identification of worm genes that regulate fat storage may provide insight into human obesity.
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Gene found key to brain chemical
The mammalian brain makes the neurotransmitter serotonin in an unexpected way.
- Astronomy
Cosmic Revelations: Satellite homes in on the infant universe
A new portrait of the infant universe pins down the age of the universe—13.7 billion years—to an unprecedented accuracy of 1 percent, provides new evidence that the universe began with a brief but humongous growth spurt, and reveals that it already contained a plethora of stars when it was just 200 million years old.
- Earth
Dirty Story: Farming has increased flow of soil onto reef
Agricultural practices that early European settlers brought to eastern Australia sped the pace at which soil washes out to sea and settles over the Great Barrier Reef.
- Health & Medicine
Montezuma’s Welcome Revenge? Bacterial toxin may fend off colon cancer
A diarrhea-inducing toxin from some strains of the common gut bacterium E. coli stifles colon cancer cell growth and may lead to new treatments.
- Materials Science
Natural Healing: Nanothread mesh could lead to novel bandages
A new material made from clot-promoting protein fibers may serve as a wound covering that speeds healing and never needs removing.
- Tech
Light Splash: Transparent pipes shape microstructures
A new technique using fluid dyes in microplumbing to create miniature fluid-carrying chips improves the 3-D topography of these microstructures and makes that topography relatively easy to modify.
- Health & Medicine
Huntington’s Advance: Drug limits disease effects in laboratory mice
A compound that inhibits enzymes that act as stop signs for genes counteracts the movement disorders brought on by Huntington's disease, a mouse study suggests.
- Animals
Sibling Desperado: Doomed booby chick turns relentlessly violent
The first known case among nonhuman vertebrates of so-called desperado aggression—relentless attacks against an overwhelming force—may come from the underling chick in nests of brown boobies.
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How the Butterfly Gets Its Spots
The spots on a butterfly wing turn out to be unusually good model systems for a range of disciplines from genetics to behavioral ecology, offering biologists a chance to paint the really big picture of how evolution works.
- Tech
NanoLights! Camera! Action!
Fluorescent particles of semiconductors are giving biologists a new view of cells and proteins.
