More Stories from the May 24, 2003 issue
- Earth
Reused paper can be polluted
Toxic chemicals can end up in recycled paper, making release of these reused materials into the environment potentially harmful.
- Earth
Flame retardants morph into dioxins
Sunlight can break down common flame retardants, now nearly ubiquitous in the environment, into unusual chemicals in the dioxin family.
- Earth
What’s happening to German eelpout?
Reproductive anomalies in eel-like fish may represent good markers of exposure to hormones or pollutants that mimic them.
- Earth
When pollutants take the Arctic route
The highest North American concentrations of at least one air pollutant from Asia can be found in Newfoundland, the continent's easternmost region.
- Health & Medicine
Eating right early might reduce premature births
Malnutrition around the time of conception may promote early delivery of offspring.
- Physics
New particles pose puzzle
The discovery of two new subatomic particles with unexpectedly low masses is making physicists reconsider how fundamental particles called quarks interact.
- Paleontology
Earful of data hints at ancient fish migration
Small bony growths that developed in the ears of fish more than 65 million years ago are providing a wealth of information about the species’ environment and lifestyle.
- Health & Medicine
Novel tack against diabetes
Thwarting the production of immune proteins that induce inflammation prevents diabetes-prone mice from developing the disease.
- Earth
A Dam Shame? Project may slam China’s biodiversity
When the Three Gorges Dam begins to impound the waters of the Yangtze River in China later this year, dozens of mountains and other elevated areas upstream will become islands—an outcome that will probably devastate the rich diversity of species now living along the river.
- Health & Medicine
Breathe Easier: Lung surgery aids some emphysema patients
Surgery to remove diseased portions of the upper lungs can help emphysema patients breathe more efficiently, depending on the patient's health and where the damaged tissues are.
-
Bad Dancers: Childhood chills give bees six left feet
Honeybees kept just a bit cool when young grow up looking normal but dancing badly, which impedes their ability to communicate with other bees.
-
Scripted Brains: Learning to read evokes hemispheric trade-off
From childhood through adolesence, the process of learning to read involves an amplification of specific types of left-brain activity and a dampening of right-brain responses, a new brain-imaging study finds.
- Planetary Science
Springtime on Neptune: Images hint at seasonal changes on distant planet
Belying its location in the deep freeze of the outer solar system, Neptune may undergo a change of seasons.
- Chemistry
Detecting Lead: Sensor changes color for toxic metal
A new sensor using gold nanoparticles and tailor-made DNA strands offers simple and reliable detection of lead in paint.
- Humans
Test Flight: Young scientists earn—and spread—their wings
A century after two brothers from Ohio launched the first powered aircraft, more than 1,200 students from 31 countries descended on Cleveland to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
- Astronomy
Gorgeous Gas
Beyond their undeniable beauty, images of nearby, starlit clouds of gas and dust, known as HeII nebulae, may reveal properties of the very first stars in the universe.
-
Repeat After Me
New research suggests that the ability to infer the thoughts and feelings of others grows out of a capacity for imitation exhibited by human infants and perhaps by other animals, as well.
