More Stories from the February 2, 2002 issue
- Physics
Balloon bursts give clue to fast cracks
A casual observation about the edges of popped balloons may have led researchers to previously unknown features of the most common and least understood types of fractures.
- Earth
Biotech-crop laws were big in 2001
Twenty-two state legislatures passed bills in 2001 addressing agricultural biotechnology, which concerns the development of genetically modified crops.
- Astronomy
Some new stars in the neighborhood
As part of an ongoing survey of faint stars in the southern skies, astronomers have discovered 12 previously unknown stars that lie within a mere 33 light-years of Earth.
- Ecosystems
Genetic lynx: North American lynx make one huge family
A new study of lynx in North America suggests the animals interbreed widely, sometimes with populations thousands of kilometers away.
- Health & Medicine
Drink and thrive: Moderate alcohol use reduces dementia risk
Alcohol appears to reduce aging drinkers' risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of age-related dementia.
- Health & Medicine
Ominous signals: Genes may identify the worst breast cancers
By using a technology that reveals patterns of gene activity in tumor cells, researchers can detect breast cancers that are likely to spread and become deadly.
- Chemistry
Viral parts: Chemists convert virus into nanoscale tool
Researchers are decorating viruses with a variety of molecules, making the microbes into potential building blocks in electronic circuits and new materials, as well as tools in biomedical therapies.
- Astronomy
Supernova dealt deaths on Earth? Stellar blasts may have killed ancient marine life
The explosion of nearby supernova may have caused the widespread extinction of marine life on Earth 2 million years ago.
- Plants
Petite pollinators: Tree raises its own crop of couriers
A common tropical tree creates farms in its buds, where it raises its own work force of tiny pollinators.
- Humans
Talent Search: Student finalists’ flair for science to be rewarded
A panel of judges announced the 40 finalists in the 61st annual Intel Science Talent Search.
- Health & Medicine
Compound mimics calorie restriction
A new compound, part of a family of proteins that regulate fat transport, lowers the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes in monkeys.
- Earth
New way of gauging reservoir evaporation
Scientists have developed a new way to estimate the evaporation of water from large reservoirs that, if adopted, would replace a labor-intensive procedure based on decades-old technology.
- Humans
Storm warnings take new tone of voice
The National Weather Service is now testing new computer-generated voices that will be used in the agency's broadcasts of severe storm warnings on NOAA Weather Radio.
- Health & Medicine
An El Niño link with a tropical disease?
An analysis of recent outbreaks of an often fatal disease in Peru may strengthen a link between the malady and the warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean known as El Niño.
- Health & Medicine
Germs That Do a Body Good
Research on probiotic bacteria—living microbes that confer health benefits when introduced into the body—offers growing medical promise.
- Earth
It’s a Rough World
Scientists are using fractals, mathematical forms that can describe objects with fractional dimensions, to model phenomena such as wildfire propagation and the spread of toxic fluids through rocks and soil.
