Vol. 177 No. #6

More Stories from the March 13, 2010 issue

  1. Anthropology

    Ancient DNA points to additional New World migration

    Scientists have extracted a nearly complete genome from the hairs of a 4,000-year-old man, suggesting a new scenario for Asian migrations into the New World.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Mutations may underlie some stuttering

    Defects in three genes governing basic cell metabolism are found in a portion of cases, researchers find.

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  3. Paleontology

    Sail-backed dinos had semiaquatic lifestyle

    Isotopic analyses of fossils suggest the carnivores had crocodile-like habits.

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  4. Space

    Powerful collider set to smash protons

    The Large Hadron Collider will operate at only half its maximum energy for the next 2 years.

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  5. Physics

    Hot and heavy matter runs a 4 trillion degree fever

    Protons and neutrons melted in collisions of gold atoms have created the hottest matter ever made in a lab

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  6. Life

    Human noise may distract animals

    When boats roar, hermit crabs slip up and let predators get extra close

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  7. Psychology

    Cell phone distraction while driving is a two-way street

    Cell phone conversations don’t just interfere with driving. Driving dents the capacity to describe and remember cell phone messages, at least for some of the youngest and oldest drivers, a new study finds. CONVERSATIONAL LOSSES In a new study, volunteer drivers and passengers in a driving simulator each heard brief stories through headphones that he […]

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  8. Humans

    Decoding diversity in Bushmen

    Decoding the genetic makeup of tribal leaders and Archbishop Desmond Tutu uncovers rich genetic diversity in southern Africans.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Tumor tracking gets personal

    A new method has the potential to use genome science to improve cancer care.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Dolphins may offer clues to treating diabetes

    Insulin-resistance switch helps maintain glucose levels in dolphin brains, suggesting possible clues to treating diabetes in people.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Brain at the breaking point

    New research, showing how stresses can snap tiny tracks inside brain connections, may improve understanding of traumatic brain injury.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Possible prostate cancer culprit

    Scientists identify a type of stem cell and a gene that play a role in the disease.

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  13. Health & Medicine

    IVF kids show shift in gene activity

    Team finds differences related to metabolism and growth.

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  14. Health & Medicine

    Brain tells signs from pantomime

    Different brain areas light up when deaf people use American Sign Language than when they gesture.

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  15. Health & Medicine

    Older adults’ brains boosted by more, not better, sleep

    A study finds that older adults perform better on a learning and memory task if they have slept more, while uninterrupted rest matters more for younger folks.

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  16. Science & Society

    Placement of marine reserves is key

    A study finds that focusing on the heaviest-fished areas can help meet conservation goals.

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  17. Health & Medicine

    Early disruption of schizophrenia gene causes problems later

    New study may help scientists to understand the sequence of events that can lead to schizophrenia

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  18. Health & Medicine

    Chip of tooth tells radiation dose

    A two-milligram dot of tooth enamel serves as a radiation dosimeter.

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  19. Space

    Shaving extra dimensions

    Any extra dimensions of space curled inside the three that humans inhabit are less than 50 micrometers in diameter, physicists reported February 15. Ted Cook of the University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues used a torsion pendulum, two rotating disks strategically riddled with holes whose gravitational tugs on each other can be precisely tracked, […]

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  20. Health & Medicine

    Germs in tobacco are potential source of respiratory infections blamed on smoking

    Cigarettes host a bacterial bonanza of hundreds of different germs, including those responsible for many human illnesses, a new genetics study reports. GERMS RIGHT AT HOME Bacteria from tobacco, grown in the lab with blood, are surrounded by remnants of red blood cells destroyed by bacterial toxins in a process called hemolysis. J. Pauly, l. […]

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  21. Science & Society

    Don’t know much about…

    A measure of U.S. science literacy has increased - to 28%

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  22. Science Past for March 12, 1960

    New weight for silver will not affect dimes — An atom of silver weighs less than previously thought, but this new finding of the National Bureau of Standards will not affect the silver dimes in your pockets. A dime will still be worth ten cents. The new atomic weight of silver was set at 107.873 […]

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  23. Being with Animals: Why We Are Obsessed with the Furry, Scaly, Feathered Creatures Who Populate Our World by Barbara J. King

    A fascination with animals is an intrinsic part of human nature, an anthropologist argues. BEING WITH ANIMALS: WHY WE ARE OBSESSED WITH THE FURRY, SCALY, FEATHERED CREATURES WHO POPULATE OUR WORLD BY BARBARA J. KING Doubleday, 2010, 258 p., $24.99.

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  24. Book Review: The Encyclopedia of Weather and Climate Change: A Complete Visual Guide by J.L. Fry, H.-F. Graf, R. Grotjahn, M.N. Raphael, C. Saunders and R. Whitaker

    There’s an old saying among meteorologists: Climate is what you should expect, weather is what you’ll actually get. With explanations a little more complicated than that, The Encyclopedia of Weather and Climate Change provides enough detail for weather buffs of all ages. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WEATHER AND CLIMATE CHANGE: A COMPLETE VISUAL GUIDE BY J.L. […]

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  25. New NOAA climate office would meet growing needs

    As the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s 2009 report indicates, climate-related impacts are already evident and expected to increase. Signs of change abound. Sea level rise. Longer growing seasons. Increases in heavy downpours. Droughts. Extended ice-free seasons and more. JANE LUBCHENCO “NOAA will be better prepared to continue its internationally recognized role in the development […]

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  26. Plants

    Losing life’s variety

    No silly hats or shouted countdowns. But entomologist Scott Miller is hosting a small event to mark the beginning of 2010, which the United Nations has declared the International Year of Biodiversity. Miller’s occasion is low-key, on a weekday, before noon even, and there’s no bubbly in sight. But there are other reasons for not […]

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  27. Physics

    Hogan’s noise

    Oh, the noise! Oh, the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! That’s the one thing he hated! The NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! — Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas HIS NOISE Cosmologist Craig Hogan is proposing that the universe is a hologram made of tiny grains, or pixels, of spacetime. Photo: Fermilab; illustration: T. Dube FEEL […]

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  28. Letters

    To their credit In Tom Siegfried’s article, “The Top 10 science news stories since time began” (SN: 1/2/10, p. 2), No. 5 is “Watson and Crick elucidate DNA’s double helix structure, 1953.” I am annoyed that, as usual in articles about the early understanding of DNA, Rosalind Franklin’s name has been left off. Even Watson […]

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  29. Science Future for March 13, 2010

    March 19 Hubble 3D, an IMAX film about the telescope’s history and highlights, premiers nationwide. See www.imax.com/hubble March 21–25 The American Chemical Society holds its spring meeting in San Francisco. See www.acs.org April 18–20 Influenza experts meet in Atlanta to discuss the latest findings on the H1N1 virus and their implications. See web.mac.com/tcassin/iWeb/IPIRC

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  30. Gold Medal Physics: The Science of Sports by John Eric Goff

    How athletes, Olympian and otherwise, perform some of their most amazing physical feats. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2010, 214 p., $25. GOLD MEDAL PHYSICS: THE SCIENCE OF SPORTS BY JOHN ERIC GOFF

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