More Stories from the May 28, 2005 issue
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Why making fat is good for you
Making new fat from food intake, as opposed to using stored fat, regulates genes important for blood sugar, fatty acid, and cholesterol concentrations.
- Planetary Science
Ringing in a new moon
The Cassini spacecraft has spotted a new moon of Saturn, only the second known to lie within the planet's main rings.
- Health & Medicine
Enzyme stopper combats cancers
An experimental drug combination that inhibits an enzyme that's abundant in tumor cells shows promise against several cancers.
- Tech
Carbon nanotubes drive X-ray scanner
X-ray scanners based on carbon nanotubes could make airport luggage screening and high-tech medical imaging more efficient.
- Health & Medicine
Shot in the gut
A mystifying case of lead poisoning, which may have lasted more than a decade, turned out to have been caused by a swallowed shotgun pellet.
- Tech
Nuke batteries get more practical
Nuclear batteries that will last for decades may have moved closer to reality with the demonstration of a silicon chip riddled with radioactive, tritium-filled pits where radiation is efficiently converted to electricity.
- Tech
Morphing wheels for beginner bikers
A new bike design for kids morphs from tricycle into bicycle as the rider gets moving, possibly easing the often-fearful starts at riding two-wheelers.
- Ecosystems
Pesticide makes bees bumble
The pesticide spinosad, previously thought safe for bees, may damage their ability to forage for nectar.
- Anthropology
Founding Families: New World was settled by small tribe
A new genetic analysis indicates that only about 200 to 300 people crossed the ice age land bridge from Asia to become the founding population of North America.
- Earth
Last Gasp: Toxic gas could explain great extinction
Sudden venting of hydrogen sulfide from the deep sea could have caused the largest extinction in Earth's history by poisoning land animals and destroying atmospheric ozone that protects Earth from ultraviolet light.
- Planetary Science
Roaming Giants: Did migrating planets shape the solar system?
New simulations suggest that the solar system's four biggest planets were once bunched together, setting up a planetary bowling game that rapidly and violently rearranged the structure of the outer solar system and tossed chunks of debris inward.
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Mapping Aroma: Smells light up distinct brain parts
The sense of smell may have its own brain atlas.
- Materials Science
Tissue Tether: Improved conducting plastic could boost nerve-regeneration success
Biomedical engineers aim to repair damaged nerves with a chemically modified conducting polymer that stimulates the growth of nerve cells.
- Health & Medicine
Positive Jolt: Electroshock therapy may have side benefit
People with depression have high concentrations of norepinephrine, a brain hormone, but electroshock treatment lowers these levels to the normal range.
- Tech
Fields of Beams: Carbon nanotubes crop up for big-screen TV
Carbon nanotubes serve as the electron emitters that light up the screen of a new experimental, high-definition television display.
- Planetary Science
Roving on the Red Planet
Scientists review the discoveries made by the Mars rovers after nearly 18 months on the Red Planet.
- Health & Medicine
Us against Them
New antibiotics may be valuable weapons in the fight against tougher bacteria.
- Humans
Letters from the May 28, 2005, issue of Science News
Hunger pangs I was interested to read about factors influencing the “hunger hormone’s”—ghrelin’s—effectiveness (“Still Hungry?” SN: 4/2/05, p. 216). One factor not considered but seemingly very significant is physical activity. I suggest that it is more useful to understand and encourage the positive effects of physical activity on overall well-being than to develop new drugs […]
