More Stories from the March 13, 2010 issue
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AnthropologyAncient 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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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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Paleontology
Sail-backed dinos had semiaquatic lifestyle
Isotopic analyses of fossils suggest the carnivores had crocodile-like habits.
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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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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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Life
Human noise may distract animals
When boats roar, hermit crabs slip up and let predators get extra close
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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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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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Health & Medicine
Tumor tracking gets personal
A new method has the potential to use genome science to improve cancer care.
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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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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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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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Health & Medicine
IVF kids show shift in gene activity
Team finds differences related to metabolism and growth.
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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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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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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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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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Health & Medicine
Chip of tooth tells radiation dose
A two-milligram dot of tooth enamel serves as a radiation dosimeter.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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