- Reviews & Previews
Permanent Present Tense
Sixty years ago, 27-year-old Henry Molaison underwent an experimental operation in a last-ditch attempt to stop his debilitating epileptic seizures. By removing tissue from each side of Molaison’s brain, the surgeon helped quell the attacks but destroyed his patient’s ability to form new memories.
At the time, scientists didn’t know that the ability to establish long-term memory was centered in a specific part of the brain. In fact, they knew little about the workings of memory. Molaison’s unique condi
- Reviews & Previews
A Piece of the Sun
It’s not a great time to be a scientist studying fusion. U.S. experiments such as the $3.5 billion National Ignition Facility are losing funding (SN: 4/20/13, p. 26), while a $20 billion international project called ITER is delayed and over budget. Clery, a science writer, chronicles these setbacks, along with 70 years’ worth of others, in efforts to harness the process that lights up the stars.
Clery gives a detailed and workmanlike history of the worldwide quest to exploit fus
- 50 Years Ago
Chromosome Variations
Excerpt from the July 27, 1963, issue of Science News Letter - Letters to the Editor
Letters to the editor
- People
Finding the brain's common language
Erich Jarvis dreams of creating a talking chimpanzee. If his theories on language are right, that just might happen one day. - Feature
Memories lost and found
Drugs that help mice remember reveal role for epigenetics in recall. - Feature
Taking Antarctica's temperature
Frozen continent may not be immune to global warming. - News in Brief
Distant radio-wave pulses spotted
Signals could help astronomers understand universe's mass - News
People may have evolved to fight cholera
People in Bangladesh have genetic variations that might defend against the disease. - News
Particles defy gravity, float upstream
Inspired by tea leaves’ reverse route into a kettle, physicists demonstrate that water’s surface tension allows unexpected movement.