More Stories from the February 16, 2002 issue
- Plants
Tropical plants grow cool flowers
Tropical plants that position their flowers in the general direction of the sun are keeping the temperature comfortable for pollinators.
- Animals
Yellower blue tits make better dads
The yellow feathers on a male blue tit's breast could tell females that he'll be a good provider for the chicks.
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Women whiff men in sniff proficiency
Women of reproductive age exhibit a unique ability to learn to detect specific smells with great sensitivity, an aptitude that may reflect the activity of female hormones in the brain.
- Astronomy
UV telescopes: One dead, one revived
One ultraviolet observatory burned up in Earth's atmosphere late last month while another has gotten a new lease on life.
- Materials Science
Scientists make nanothermometer
A carbon nanotube filled with gallium can be used to measure temperatures in microscopic environments.
- Chemistry
A new molecule and a new signature
In two independent discoveries, chemists have prepared a new form of nitrogen and captured the infrared spectrum of an unusual molecule made up of hydrogen and oxygen.
- Health & Medicine
Low birth weight matters later, too
Premature babies weighing less than 1.5 kilograms at birth grow up to have lower achievement scores on standard tests and are less likely to go to college than are full-term babies weighing more than twice as much.
- Materials Science
Better Stainless: Analysis could bring pits out of the steel
The key to developing pit-resistant stainless steel is to correct the dearth of chromium atoms around inclusions in the alloy.
- Health & Medicine
Antibody Warfare: Vaccine halts microbes in dialysis patients
A vaccine protects many kidney-dialysis patients from blood infection caused by the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium.
- Ecosystems
Biodiversity Hot Spots: Top 10 sea locales make sobering list
Biologists have identified the world's most vulnerable coral reefs, each with organisms found nowhere else and threatened by human influence.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin Void: Heart disease may lurk in B12 deficiency
Meatless eating typically improves cardiovascular health, but a dietary shortage of vitamin B12 may lead to an overabundance of the amino acid homocysteine in some vegetarians, which could pose a risk to their hearts.
- Astronomy
X-Ray Universe: Quasar’s jet goes the distance
Collisions with photons left over from the birth of the universe appear to have generated the longest X ray-emitting jet ever found in a distant galaxy.
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Cool Discovery: Menthol triggers cold-sensing protein
A cell-surface protein that lets ions flow into cells responds to menthol and cool temperatures.
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Disorder Decline: U.S. mental ills take controversial dip
Far fewer people suffer from mental disorders requiring treatment than was initially indicated by two national surveys.
- Tech
Itsy chain turns bitsy gears
A tiny chain with links the size of biological cells offers a new way to deliver power to micromachines.
- Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s vaccine trial is suspended
A drug company in Ireland has halted tests of an experimental vaccine for Alzheimer's disease.
- Anthropology
A Fair Share of the Pie
A cross-cultural project suggests that people everywhere divvy up food and make other economic deals based on social concepts of fairness, not individual self-interest.
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