More Stories from the February 23, 2013 issue
- Animals
Finally, the truth about barnacle sex is revealed
A genetic analysis shows that the sessile crustaceans can broadcast sperm in water, contrary to previous assumptions.
- Health & Medicine
Flu shot during pregnancy is safe, but flu isn’t
Illness in the mother nearly doubles the risk of a miscarriage or stillbirth in second or third trimester, a new study shows.
- Tech
Trick of light makes microwave imaging simple
Metamaterials and math combine to produce a quick, cheap system.
- Health & Medicine
When hearing goes, mental capacity often follows
Cognitive decline may result from decreased social interaction or diversion of brainpower toward understanding speech.
- Health & Medicine
Half of U.S. babies may miss on-time vaccinations
Immunization delays place children at risk of contracting preventable diseases.
- Earth
Watering fields in California boosts rainfall in Southwest
Irrigation has downstream effects on climate and runoff to Colorado River.
- Tech
DNA stores poems, a photo and a speech
The molecule swaps its biological role for a computational one, that of long-term data storage.
- Humans
H5N1 influenza research moratorium ends
Scientists lift self-imposed moratorium on research that would make avian flu transmissible among humans.
- Health & Medicine
Digestive juices implicated in shock
A new study finds that blocking enzymes' effects beyond the gastrointestinal tract may be an effective treatment strategy.
- Animals
Dung beetles steer by the Milky Way
The insects orient themselves using starlight, researchers find in planetarium experiments.
- Space
Proton’s radius revised downward
A new study confirms an earlier result that found that the proton is smaller than thought, opening up the possibility of undiscovered particles and forces.
- Health & Medicine
Signs of trauma documented in living brains
Molecular signature of injury seen in scans of retired NFL players.
- Health & Medicine
Deep brain stimulation improves autistic boy’s symptoms
Electrodes surgically implanted in the brain could treat severe cases of autism.
- Earth
Human-made waste heat warms climate
Energy dissipated as heat in cities can cause regional temperature changes, simulations suggest.
- Life
Gene variant makes flu particularly dangerous
People with one form of IFITM3 are more likely to develop pneumonia.
- Animals
Cats kill more than one billion birds each year
New analysis doubles estimate of avian death tolls, revealing that hunting felines take bigger bite out of wildlife than expected.
- Humans
Professional athletes have superior perception
Soccer, rugby, hockey players better ignore distractions to follow motion with their eyes.
- Life
Nerve stem cells treat gut disorder in mice
Nerve stem cell therapy treats gut disorder by connecting to nervous system.
- Earth
Indonesian mud eruption will soon die out, scientists predict
Spewing muck since 2006, volcano will calm to a sputter by 2017.
- Health & Medicine
TV watching linked to low sperm counts
Couch potatoes’ reproductive health may suffer.
- Space
Stellar baby picture
The newborn stars, not even a million years old, formed when regions of a cloud of cool dust and gas (visible at center left) collapsed from gravity.
- Health & Medicine
Fast food linked to asthma risk
A diet high in fast food seems to increase the risk of asthma in young children and adolescents, survey data from more than a half-million people finds.
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Science Future for February 23, 2013
March 23 See rare whale specimens, watch a re-creation of a whale hunting a squid and learn how scientists track these giants at the new Whales: Giants of the Deep exhibition at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. See bit.ly/SFamnhwhale March 28 The Russian Soyuz spacecraft launches from Kazakhstan carrying three crew members […]
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SN Online
FRAME OF MIND Laura Sanders ponders turning off depression instantaneously in her column “A new generation of antidepressants could help patients feel better faster.” A. Muto et al/Current Biology 2013 BODY & BRAIN See a video of nerves firing in a fish larva’s brain (below) as it hunts in “As fish watch prey, researchers watch […]
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BOOK REVIEW: Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova
Review by Alexandra Witze.
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Mad Science: Einstein’s Fridge, Dewar’s Flask, Mach’s Speed, and 362 Other Inventions and Discoveries that Made Our World by Randy Alfred, ed.
Celebrate a technology anniversary for each day of the year with this compendium of inventions. Little, Brown and Co., 2012, 390 p., $19.99
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Wind Wizard: Alan G. Davenport and the Art of Wind Engineering by Siobhan Roberts
Skyscrapers and massive bridges would not be the same without Alan Davenport, whose engineering for wind conditions improved the safety of structures around the world. Princeton Univ., 2013, 278 p., $29.95
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Life’s Ratchet: How Molecular Machines Extract Order from Chaos by Peter M. Hoffmann
Explore life at the smallest scales in this look at how molecules within cells operate like machines to keep organisms alive. Basic Books, 2012, 278 p., $27.99
- Health & Medicine
I Died for Beauty
Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science by Marjorie Senechal.
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Space Atlas: Mapping the Universe and Beyond by James Trefil
A large-format guide to the universe covers astronomy basics, with eye-catching images plus a foreword by former astronaut Buzz Aldrin. National Geographic, 2012, 335 p., $50
- Earth
Salvage Job
With fertilizer prices skyrocketing, scientists scramble to recover phosphorus from waste.
- Science & Society
No New Meds
With drug firms in retreat, the pipeline for new psychiatric medications dries up.
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Letters
Dark matter enlightened Tom Siegfried’s article on dark matter “Light in the Dark,” (SN: 1/12/13, p. 18) reminded me of the 19th century search for the luminiferous ether. One can only wonder if history will repeat itself in the 21st century search for dark matter.Jeffery Miller, Los Angeles, Calif. The difference is that the ether […]
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Science Past from the issue of February 23, 1963
NEW AIR TRANSPORT — Instead of trains on railroads and trucks on expensive highways, the less developed countries in the future are likely to use for their transport hybrid helicopter-airplanes that need only simple landing fields and no roads or rails between. This possibility was offered … by Dr. Phillip R. Carlson of the Lockheed […]
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