More Stories from the March 25, 2006 issue
- Animals
Woodpecker video is challenged and defended
The video released last spring as evidence that the ivory-billed woodpecker exists may show a common pileated woodpecker, some critics say.
- Astronomy
Glassy galaxies
Astronomers have found clouds of sand crystals resembling crushed glass around 21 infrared-bright galaxies.
- Anthropology
Capuchins resist inbreeding chances
Wild capuchin monkeys manage to avoid inbreeding, despite rampant opportunities for high-status fathers to mate with their grown daughters.
- Chemistry
Busted bonds
The tenacious bonds between two carbon atoms can be broken in a surprisingly simple process.
- Health & Medicine
Moldy whiff kills brain cells
A common black mold that blooms on moist cellulose-based materials produces a toxin that can kill certain brain cells.
- Earth
Leaden streets
Street grit is the probable source of lead in urban homes, and flaking paint from overpasses and bridges is a major contributor.
- Chemistry
Drinking increases skin’s permeability
Drinking alcohol can greatly compromise the skin's barrier to chemicals.
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Nonstick chemicals upset behavior
A study in mice finds that early-life exposure to the fluorinated chemicals used in nonstick products can rewire the brain in ways that dramatically affect behavior.
- Earth
Tiny Bubbles: Oldest evidence yet for methane makers
Analyses of the gases dissolved in water trapped in ancient minerals suggest that methane-generating microbes have been around almost 3.5 billion years.
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Mood Meds’ Second Wind: Depression drugs aided by extra treatment step
A second, modified course of drug treatment fosters recovery in a substantial minority of depressed adults who don't feel better after treatment with a commonly prescribed antidepressant.
- Plants
Reality Botany: Data ease doubts about plant species
Despite the doubts of some botanists, plant species aren't just some arbitrary human classification scheme, says a team of evolutionary biologists.
- Health & Medicine
Defect Detector: Plugging holes in a breast cancer–gene screen
A genetic test not available in the United States catches many potentially cancer-causing BRCA-gene mutations not detected by the sole U.S. test.
- Earth
Still Standing: Tsunamis won’t wash away Maldives atolls
The December 2004 tsunami had little geological impact on the seemingly fragile coral-reef islands of the Maldives archipelago.
- Physics
Tipsy Superfluids: Glimpsing off-kilter quantum clouds
A new type of superfluid atom cloud that's been thrown off-balance by having more atoms with their quantum spins pointing up than down, or vice versa, seems to defy theoretical expectations.
- Astronomy
Comet Sampler: Fire meets ice
The first study of comet dust brought to Earth by a spacecraft has revealed several minerals that could have formed only at the fiery temperatures close to the sun or another star.
- Materials Science
Making the Most of It
A recent crop of studies demonstrates how nature finds strength in unlikely places.
- Animals
That’s One Weird Tooth
The narwhal's distinctive spiral tusk has structures that could make it phenomenally sensitive, raising new questions about its functions.
- Humans
Letters from the March 25, 2006, issue of Science News
Bee movie? In the article about using harmonic reflected signals to track bees (“The Trouble with Chasing a Bee,” SN: 1/14/06, p. 23), I thought it was interesting to note that the original technology was created by the Russians as a spy device. The technology is still being used for a form of spying. Dwight […]
