More Stories from the February 2, 2008 issue
- Tech
Smells like DNA
By reshuffling the chemical letters of the genetic code, scientists have made short strands of DNA that can distinguish several different smells, such as explosives and food preservatives.
- Materials Science
Fishy flash
Fish alter the growth of crystals in their skin, making it supershiny.
- Earth
Fabulon: Looking less fabulous
The source of polychlorinated biphenyls found heavily tainting some homes—and their dwellers—appears to be a durable topcoat for hardwood floors that was widely used a half-century ago.
- Health & Medicine
Receptor may be cancer accomplice
Suppressing a receptor protein called neuropilin-2 slows colon cancer growth in mice.
- Animals
Very brown sheep have a dark side
Big, dark sheep on a Scottish island are not breaking the rules of evolution after all.
- Earth
A crack and a fault in paradise
Mauna Loa, Hawaii's most massive volcano, may be splitting the Earth's crust.
- Health & Medicine
New route to insulin-making cells
Researchers have found cells resembling stem cells in the mouse pancreas, suggesting new ways to treat diabetes.
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- Earth
Seafloor Chemistry: Life’s building blocks made inorganically
Hydrocarbons in fluids spewing from hydrothermal vents on the seafloor in the central Atlantic were produced by inorganic chemical reactions deep within the ocean crust, a finding with implications for the possible origins of life.
- Planetary Science
Dusty Clues: Study suggests no dearth of Earths
A new study suggests that many, or perhaps most, sunlike stars have planets much like Earth.
- Plants
Traveling tubers
Potato varieties from Chile arrived in Europe several years before the blights of the mid-1800s, a new analysis of DNA from old plant collections reveals.
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Spice It Up: Naked mole-rats feel no pain from peppers, acid
The African naked mole-rat doesn't feel pain from acid or chilies, a possible adaptation to its cramped underground habitat.
- Humans
. . . And the Envelope, Please: Forty outstanding young scientists move to final round of competition
Forty outstanding young scientists will travel to Washington, D.C., for the final round of the 2008 Intel Science Talent Search.
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Live Long and Perspire: Exercise may slow aging at chromosomal level
A new study finds that a sedentary lifestyle is linked to short telomeres on chromosomes, potentially a sign of rapid aging.
- Animals
The naming of the elephant-shrew
A new species of giant elephant-shrew, small bounding forest dwellers very distantly related to elephants, has been discovered in Tanzania. With video.
- Health & Medicine
Warning Sign: Genetic fragments tag cancer severity
High levels of the microRNA miR-21 lead to poor prognoses for colon cancer patients.
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Biological Moon Shot
The first entries—with the basics for a mere 30,000 species—in the Web-based Encyclopedia of Life are scheduled for release in a matter of weeks.
- Astronomy
Embracing the Dark Side
Ten years after researchers discovered that the expansion of the universe was speeding up rather than slowing down, cosmologists are still struggling to explain the astonishing finding.
- Humans
Letters from the February 2, 2008, issue of Science News
Eye for an eagle The photo illustrating “Hatch a Thief” (SN: 12/15/07, p. 372) does not show a golden eagle. The bill of a golden eagle is black on the outer half and pale blue at the base, and the feathers on the back of its head are bright tawny. It could be a white-tailed […]
