More Stories from the July 5, 2003 issue
- Physics
Wild Bunch: First five-quark particle turns up
Physicists have uncovered strong evidence for a family of five-quark particles after decades of finding no subatomic particles with more than three of the fundamental building blocks known as quarks.
-
A Matter of Taste: Mutated fruit flies bypass the salt
By creating mutant fruit flies with an impaired capacity to taste salt, researchers have identified several genes that contribute to this sensory system in insects.
- Health & Medicine
Lethal Emergence: Tracing the rise of dengue fever in the Americas
Using the genetics of viruses, scientists have tracked a virulent form of dengue virus in Latin America back to its roots in India.
- Animals
Moonlighting: Beetles navigate by lunar polarity
A south African dung beetle is the first animal found to align its path by detecting the polarization of moonlight.
-
Till IL-6 Do Us Part: Elderly caregivers show harmful immune effect
Elderly people caring for their incapacitated spouses experienced dramatic average increases in the blood concentration of a protein involved in immune regulation, a trend that puts them at risk for a variety of serious illnesses.
- Earth
Suspended Drugs: Antibiotics fed to animals drift in air
Borne on dust floating in and around farm buildings, antibiotics given to animals may later be inhaled by people—with possibly detrimental health effects.
- Astronomy
Timing a Moonrise: Van Gogh painting put on the calendar
Astronomical detectives suggest that van Gogh painted the picture now known as "Moonrise" in 1889, capturing the rising moon as it appeared at 9:08 p.m. local mean time on July 13.
- Earth
Second cancer type linked to shift work
Women who have worked at least a few nights a month for many years appear to face a somewhat increased risk of colorectal cancer.
- Earth
Satellites show Earth is greener
Daily observations from space for nearly 2 decades indicate that our planet is getting greener.
- Animals
Sumo wrestling keeps big ants in line
In a Malaysian ant species, the large workers establish a hierarchy by engaging in spectacular shaking contests.
-
- Physics
Magnetic current flows solo
By exploiting quantum mechanical interactions, physicists have generated glows of the magnetic fields of electrons without corresponding flows of their electric charges.
- Humans
Tobacco treaty penned
Just one day after the World Health Organization drafted a tobacco-control treaty, more than 28 nations signed on.
- Health & Medicine
Strict regimen pays off years later
Diabetes patients who adhered to a strict program of blood sugar control over nearly 7 years starting in the 1980s are still showing heart benefits.
- Health & Medicine
Epilepsy drug eases diabetes woes
The epilepsy drug topiramate relieves pain, seems to initiate nerve repair, aids weight loss, and may have other benefits for persons with diabetes.
- Materials Science
Microbial Materials
Microorganisms can be coaxed into producing high-tech components and can themselves serve as valuable ingredients in new classes of materials.
- Anthropology
The Ultimate Colonists
Human ancestors managed to adjust to life in a variety of ecosystems during the Stone Age, indicating that their social lives were more complex than they've often been given credit for.
