More Stories from the January 13, 2007 issue
- Earth
Yes, it’s asbestos
Federal mineralogists have corroborated earlier evidence that Sierra-foothills communities around Sacramento, Calif., are built atop soils naturally laced with asbestos.
- Tech
A backpack with a suspension system
A new backpack design that uses elastic cords to minimize the pack's vertical motion could lessen bodily strain on wearers and reduce the effort required to carry a load.
- Health & Medicine
Good news for people with clotting disorder
Several experimental drugs show promise against the bleeding disorder known as immune thrombocytopenic purpura.
- Health & Medicine
Putting the kibosh on black cohosh
The herbal supplement black cohosh is no more effective than a placebo in reducing the number of daily hot flashes in menopausal women.
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Stem cells float in amniotic fluid
Scientists have discovered a new type of stem cell in the fluid that bathes fetuses in the womb.
- Agriculture
Big footprints
Livestock production carries surprisingly high, and largely hidden, environmental costs.
- Humans
Congress upgrades fisheries protection
Congress has reauthorized and strengthened a 30-year-old federal law governing fishing and ocean management.
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Genes discovered for sensing carbon dioxide
Researchers have tracked down a pair of genes that, together, seem responsible for some insects' ability to sense carbon dioxide.
- Health & Medicine
Folic Acid Dilemma: One vitamin may impair cognition if another is lacking
The nutrient folic acid is generally good for brain health, but research now suggests that too much of it might harm people who get too little vitamin B12.
- Astronomy
Fleet Finding: Speed of Milky Way’s companions poses puzzle
New measurements of the speed of two familiar companion galaxies to the Milky Way suggest some unfamiliar possibilities.
- Ecosystems
Alien Alert: Shrimpy invader raises big concerns
A shrimplike European invader just discovered in the Great Lakes could prove ecologically disruptive to populations of native lake animals.
- Health & Medicine
No Fluke: New weapon against tropical parasite
An experimental drug shows potential against schistosomiasis.
- Plants
Biggest Bloom: Superflower changes branch on family tree
The plants with the world's largest flowers, the rafflesias, need to be moved closer to poinsettias on the family tree of plant life.
- Materials Science
Electrode Enhancements: New materials may boost fuel cell performance
Two teams have independently discovered ways to dramatically improve the materials used in the electrodes of fuel cells.
- Chemistry
Switch Hitters: Antibacterial compounds target new mechanism to kill microbes
Recently discovered ribonucleic acid segments, called riboswitches, may become prime targets for new antibacterial drugs.
- Physics
Cellular Contortionist
Mounting, but controversial, evidence suggests that DNA flexes more easily than previously thought, with potentially important implications for genetics, cell biology, and nanotechnology.
- Computing
Digital Fingerprints
New methods to identify Internet users by their behavior can uncover criminals online, but these techniques may also track millions of innocent users.
- Humans
Letters from the January 13, 2007, issue of Science News
Sunny exposition “The Antibiotic Vitamin” (SN: 11/11/06, p. 312) reminds me that in preantibiotic days, tuberculosis patients were put on a fresh-air-and-sunshine regimen. Could the vitamin D so acquired account for the cures this system sometimes produced? Nancy AxfordSacramento, Calif. Researcher John J. Cannell points to TB sanitariums as anecdotal evidence that sunlight fights infections.—J. […]
