More Stories from the January 10, 2004 issue
- Health & Medicine
SARS vaccine triggers immunity in monkeys
An experimental vaccine against the SARS virus shows promise in a test on monkeys.
- Astronomy
X-ray images highlight galaxy collisions
A new study provides graphic evidence that X-ray observations may be the best way to identify ancient collisions between galaxies.
- Earth
When testosterone gets down and dirty
Testosterone excreted by livestock can pass through soils, which may explain new findings of fish-altering hormonal activity in water downstream of cattle feedlots.
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- Astronomy
Taste of a Comet: Spacecraft samples and views Wild 2
Pummeled by debris, a NASA spacecraft last week snatched up dust samples while taking the sharpest images ever of a comet's icy core.
- Humans
Cow Madness: Disease’s U.S. emergence highlights role of feed ban
The threat of mad cow disease to both people and animals in the U.S. remains low, as long as government regulations designed to prevent the disease's spread are enforced, risk analysts say.
- Chemistry
Moonlighting: Reflective protein causes squid to shimmer
Squid can manipulate light in amazing ways to camouflage themselves at night, and researchers have unveiled a bizarre set of reflective proteins in the animals' tissues that underlie this trait.
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Neural Road to Repression: Brain may block out undesired memories
Specific brain structures work together to allow people to repress certain memories intentionally.
- Tech
Flashy Transistors: Electronic workhorses also shed light
Researchers have discovered that the transistor can emit light, a yet-untapped talent.
- Health & Medicine
Going against the Grain: Aspirin use linked to pancreatic cancer
Scientists have associated aspirin use with cancer of the pancreas.
- Planetary Science
A Tale of Two Landers: NASA’s Spirit phones home, but Europe’s Beagle 2 remains mum on Mars
NASA's Spirit rover sent its first signals home soon after it touched down on Mars Jan. 3, but European Space Agency scientists haven't yet heard from their Beagle 2 lander, which dropped to the surface of Mars on Dec. 24.
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Brain gene is tied to obesity
A gene involved in brain chemistry influences whether a person is thin or fat.
- Health & Medicine
Select immune cells help marrow grafts
By excising certain immune cells from donor bone marrow, physicians have devised a new way of performing marrow transplants.
- Health & Medicine
Novel drug fights leukemia
An experimental drug helps a small but significant fraction of people with acute myeloid leukemia and causes minimal side effects.
- Health & Medicine
Thalidomide-like drug treats blood disorder
A novel drug appears to help people with myelodysplasia, a persistent condition that leaves them short of crucial blood components.
- Health & Medicine
Age-related anemia hastens death
People who develop low concentrations of iron-containing hemoglobin in their blood as they get older are at elevated risk for serious medical problems and early death.
- Materials Science
News That’s Fit to Print—and Preserve
Analyses of newsprint materials suggest that, despite their frail appearance, newspapers can last more than 200 years in storage—a fact that calls into question the merits of microfilming.
- Earth
Infrasonic Symphony
Scientists are eavesdropping on volcanoes, avalanches, earthquakes, and meteorites to discern these phenomena's infrasound signatures and see what new information infrasound might reveal.
