More Stories from the February 8, 2003 issue
- Earth
Dust devils produce magnetic fields
Scientists who chase dust devils report that the tiny twisters can produce a small magnetic field that changes magnitude between 3 and 30 times per second.
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Sleepy brains make memorable waves
Precisely timed electrical discharges in two parts of the brains of sleeping rodents offer clues to how slumber may foster memories of recently learned material.
- Materials Science
Microscopic glass ribbons provide molecular labels
A new type of barcode too small to see with the naked eye holds promise for biomedical research, law enforcement, and everyday life.
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Cell phones distract drivers, hands down
Laboratory experiments indicate that using a hands-free cell phone while driving markedly interferes with the ability to maneuver a vehicle safely.
- Tech
Columbia Disaster: Why did the space shuttle burn up?
The space shuttle Columbia, which tore apart killing all seven of its crew on Feb. 1 just minutes before it was scheduled to land, may have been doomed since its liftoff.
- Health & Medicine
Exonerated? Foods’ acrylamide risks appear low
A new study downplays the likelihood that people will develop cancer from eating foods naturally tainted with acrylamide, a building block of many plastics and an animal carcinogen.
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Bad Sleepers Hurry Death: Snoozing soundly staves off the Big Sleep
Healthy elderly people who experienced difficulty falling or staying asleep die from natural causes at a much higher rate than those who slept well.
- Agriculture
Bt Cotton: Yields up in India; pests low in Arizona
Two cotton-growing centers that could hardly differ more—small farms in India and industrial fields in Arizona—provide case studies that show the bright side of a widespread genetically engineered crop.
- Humans
Budget Boosts and Busts: R&D for Defense, NASA garner funding rise
The President's $2.23 trillion federal budget proposal contains nearly $123 billion to fund federal research and development, an increase of about $8 billion over last year’s proposal.
- Health & Medicine
Mind Numbing: Anesthesia in baby rats stunts brain development
General anesthetic drugs commonly used in pediatric surgery, when given to baby rats, trigger brain cells to commit a cellular form of suicide that leads to lasting memory and learning deficits.
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Catch of the day for cancer researchers
Scientists are using glowing tumor cells inside zebrafish to study how cancer spreads.
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Genghis Khan’s Legacy?
Genghis Kahn's military success 800 years ago may have spread a particular form of the Y chromosome, one he may have himself carried.
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Essence of g
New efforts to probe the biology of intelligence stir up a long-running controversy over what mental tests actually measure.
- Health & Medicine
Dietary Dilemmas
Low-carbohydrate diets, such as the Atkins diet, could be more effective for weight loss than low-fat diets are.
