More Stories from the March 12, 2005 issue
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Faces elicit strong emotions in autism
Children with autism avoid eye contact because they experience uncomfortably intense emotional reactions when looking at faces.
- Anthropology
Inside view of our wee, ancient cousins
A tiny, humanlike species that inhabited an Indonesian island more than 20,000 years ago possessed a brain that shared some organizational features with Homo erectus, a large-brained human ancestor that thought in complex ways.
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Master gene found for insect smell
A single gene may oversee the sense of smell in a variety of insect species.
- Astronomy
Radiation from a baby star
X-ray telescopes have captured the earliest and clearest view of the core of a gas cloud about to transform into a star.
- Health & Medicine
Inner-brain electrode may curb depression
Deep-brain electrical stimulation has shown promise in treating severe depression.
- Humans
Death can outdo ABCs of prevention
Abstinence and monogamy may deserve little, if any, credit for the recent drop in the proportion of Ugandans who are infected with HIV.
- Health & Medicine
Injections cut need for HIV drugs
An experimental vaccine, when given to people infected with HIV, appears to reduce their dependence on antiviral drugs.
- Health & Medicine
Blindness Hazard: Gene variant tied to macular degeneration
People who make a particular form of an immune system protein have a heightened risk of developing old-age blindness.
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Monkey See, Monkey Think: Grape thefts instigate debate on primate’s mind
Rhesus monkeys treat a competitor's averted eyes as a license to steal his or her food.
- Planetary Science
Slowpoke: Atmosphere put brakes on meteorite that formed famed crater
The extraterrestrial object that gouged out Arizona's Meteor Crater about 50,000 years ago struck at a speed much slower than most scientists had previously proposed.
- Astronomy
Weighing In on a Star: A stellar size limit
A new study suggests that no star in our galaxy can weigh more than 150 times the mass of the sun.
- Health & Medicine
Anoint Them with Oil: Cheap-and-easy treatment cuts infection rates in premature infants
Massaging premature babies with sunflower-seed oil can cut bloodborne infection rates.
- Materials Science
Slick Surfaces: Pressure builds to make better motor oils
Motor oil's protection against the wear and tear of steel engine parts takes effect only at high pressures.
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Bacterial Nanny: Beewolf grows microbe for protecting young
A European wasp leaves a smear of bacteria near each of her eggs as protection against the perils of youth.
- Materials Science
Venetian Grinds
Venetian Renaissance artists, renowned for their vibrant colors, mixed powdered glass with their paints in an attempt to expand their palettes and create unique optical effects.
- Physics
Primordial Nukes
The rocky remains of nuclear reactors that formed spontaneously in African uranium deposits 2 billion years ago are yielding striking new details about their operation as well as signs that a fundamental aspect of the universe may have once been stronger than it is today.
- Humans
Letters from the March 12, 2005, issue of Science News
Cheaters like us? The model for the emergence of a population of “cheaters” out of a population of “cooperators” described in “When Laziness Pays: Math explains how cooperation and cheating evolve” (SN: 1/15/05, p. 35) gives a fresh viewpoint on existing ecosystems—and much more. Might the evolution of asymmetric modern sex from symmetric DNA exchange […]
