More Stories from the March 26, 2005 issue
- Health & Medicine
New protease inhibitor looks promising
An antiretroviral drug under development may work in patients for whom existing drugs fall short.
-
College may endow memory to old brains
College-educated older adults recruit new brain areas to counteract some of the memory loss that occurs with aging, a new brain-imaging study suggests.
- Planetary Science
Jupiter as mirror for the sun’s X rays
X rays emanating from Jupiter's midriff actually originate on the sun, new observations show.
- Animals
Ant larvae sway to say, ‘Feed me!’
The most detailed study yet of body language of ant larvae translates a swaying motion as begging for food and a chance at a better future.
- Earth
Paint additive hammers coral
A pesticidal additive in the paint applied to ship hulls may be contributing to the worldwide decline of corals.
- Health & Medicine
Flame retardants spark new concern
Breakdown products in brominated flame retardants, traces of which circulate in the blood of most people, may perturb the normal production of reproductive hormones, a new test-tube study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Plants take bite out of deadly snake venoms
A Nigerian pharmacologist has found in local plants a potential antidote to some of the world's most deadly snake venoms.
- Paleontology
Old Softy: Tyrannosaurus fossil yields flexible tissue
Scientists analyzing fragments of a Tyrannosaurus rex's leg bone have recovered soft, pliable material, including structures that apparently are cells and blood vessels.
- Astronomy
Alien Light: Extrasolar planets are detected in new way
Two teams of scientists report that they have for the first time directly detected the glow of planets that circle sunlike stars hundreds of light-years from Earth.
- Earth
An Ounce of Pollution: Particles’ harm varies by person, region, season
A gram of small, air-polluting particles has deadlier effects in certain seasons and regions of the country than in others, and particulate pollutants may disrupt heart function most in people who already have cardiovascular problems.
- Materials Science
Clever Coating: New polymer may prolong life of medical implants
Coating medical implants such as glucose sensors and coronary stents with copper-doped polymers could dramatically extend the devices' functioning.
-
Tug-of-War: How bacteria prevent host-cell suicide
New research suggests that bacteria may keep the cells they infect alive longer by tugging on the cells' membranes.
- Animals
Big Mimics: African elephants can learn to copy sounds
Two captive African elephants—one rumbling like a truck and the other chirping like a different elephant species—show they may be the first land mammals other than primates to learn vocal imitations.
-
Babies Learn to Save Face: Infants get prepped to perceive
A minimal amount of parent-directed training at home allows babies to sustain facial-discrimination skills that they would otherwise lose by age 9 months.
-
Possible Worlds
A growing number of reports highlight imagination's pervasive influence on thinking, one example of which is the surprisingly large proportion of well-adjusted preschoolers who play with make-believe companions.
- Astronomy
Too Darn Hot
A new theory of planet formation suggests that sizzling-hot Earths may be abundant throughout the galaxy and could soon be detected.
- Humans
Letters from the March 26, 2005, issue of Science News
Sleeper issue “Goodnight moon, hello Mom and Dad” (SN: 1/22/05, p. 61) attributes behaviors of earlier bedtime, longer sleeping, and earlier weaning to “greater personal independence” in children who sleep alone. It is equally possible that these behaviors are due to something else. Research predicting which children and families will benefit from co-sleeping or alone […]
