Vol. 159 No. #25
Archive Issues Modal Example |

More Stories from the June 23, 2001 issue

  1. Chemistry

    Chemists make hard-to-catch molecules

    Chemists have devised a new way to stabilize highly reactive molecules called carbenes.

    By
  2. Chemistry

    Hassium holds its place at the table

    Researchers have performed the first ever chemical studies on the element hassium.

    By
  3. Paleontology

    Fossil footprints could be monumental

    Trace fossils found in a vacant lot in a small town in Utah, including the footprints of meat-eating dinosaurs, could soon be protected as part of a new U.S. national monument.

    By
  4. Paleontology

    Sahara yields second-largest dinosaur

    Excavations near an Egyptian oasis have unearthed the fossils of an animal that probably ranks as the second-most-massive dinosaur known.

    By
  5. Tech

    Polymer takes dim view of explosives

    By spraying surfaces with a light-emitting polymer, researchers have taken a step toward making new sensors for traces of common explosives.

    By
  6. Tech

    Robosaur roams with spring in its step

    The novel dinosaur robot Troodon takes two-legged walking machines onto new terrain.

    By
  7. Tech

    Device fingers chemical thugs at scene

    A compact, new instrument exploits quantum mechanics to rapidly identify illegal drugs, pollutants, and other chemicals, on the spot.

    By
  8. Physics

    Physics Bedrock Cracks, Sun Shines In

    The first data from a new Canadian detector of particles called neutrinos not only resolve a 30-year-old puzzle about how the sun works, but also revise estimates of mysterious "dark" matter in the universe and strengthen a key challenge to the prevailing theory of particle physics.

    By
  9. Paleontology

    Two new dinosaurs chiseled from fossil gap

    A sleek predator and a pot-bellied giant dinosaur have emerged from North American rocks to fill in a 30-million-year gap in the dinosaur fossil record.

    By
  10. Health & Medicine

    Leukemia overpowers drug in two ways

    Researchers discover why the anticancer drug Gleevec, also called STI-571, helps many patients who have chronic myelogenous leukemia but not those who have entered the crisis stage of the disease.

    By
  11. Babies may thrive on wordless conversation

    Although unable to say a word, 4-month-olds coordinate the timing of their vocalizations with those of adult partners in conversational ways that may have implications for social and intellectual development.

    By
  12. Chemistry

    Chemists decorate nanotubes for usefulness

    Researchers have developed a new technique for attaching groups of atoms to the sides of carbon nanotubes, creating compounds with extraordinary strength and conductivity.

    By
  13. Health & Medicine

    Studies suggest how salad may protect heart

    Lutein, a yellow pigment in many fruits and vegetables, may inhibit processes that jump-start the development of atherosclerosis.

    By
  14. Animals

    Fruit flies hear by spinning their noses

    Drosophila have a rotating ear—and odor-sensing—structure that's new to science.

    By
  15. Health & Medicine

    Prostate protection? This is fishy

    Diets rich in fish may cut a man's risk of prostate cancer.

    By
  16. Health & Medicine

    Forget about jet lag, and much more

    Airline flight attendants with chronic jet lag have higher stress hormone concentrations and smaller temporal lobes (centers of short-term memory in the brain)than do more rested attendants.

    By
  17. Astronomy

    An Illuminating Journey

    Astronomers are beginning to use the cosmic microwave background, the remnant glow from the Big Bang, in a dramatically different way: Instead of treating it as a snapshot of the early universe, researchers are proposing to employ the radiation as a flashlight that probes the evolution of structure in the universe over its entire 13-billion-year history.

    By
  18. Chemistry

    Perfecting Porosity

    Researchers are designing novel porous materials that could clean up toxins, store gases, or catalyze difficult chemical reactions.

    By