More Stories from the May 9, 2009 issue
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EarthArctic ice more vulnerable than ever
Ocean’s ice cap is smaller than long-term average and thinnest yet as melt season begins.
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Earth
Nickel down, oxygen up
Researchers point to the early ocean's concentration of nickel as the possible start for events that allowed Earth's atmosphere to accumulate oxygen.
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Health & Medicine
Acid reflux link to asthma now in doubt
Heartburn drugs called proton pump inhibitors, commonly prescribed for asthma patients, don’t prevent breathing attacks.
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Health & Medicine
The other, friendly fat
Brown fat is active in adult humans and could help keep people lean.
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Materials Science
Double-laser approach makes one thin line
Erasing and stenciling could refine tiny printing for sculpting nano-sized devices.
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Animals
Oh, he’s such a lab bird
Bold flycatchers may be more likely than shy birds to get trapped for lab studies.
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Life
Early land arthropods sported shells
Ancient ocean-dwelling arthropods may have worn shells to enable their transition to land.
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Health & Medicine
Hypoglycemia linked to dementia
Episodes of low blood sugar that require medical attention seem to increase a person’s risk of developing dementia in old age, a study in people with type 2 diabetes shows.
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Space
Massive solar flares captured in 3-D
Distance between orbiting STEREO craft allows better imaging of coronal mass ejections.
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Life
Lizards sunbathe for another reason
Panther chameleons may regulate their vitamin D levels by lounging in the sun.
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Tech
Cloaked eye still sees
Researchers have proposed a model that would allow sensors to send and receive information virtually undetected.
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Health & Medicine
Seemingly misplaced DNA acts as lenses
Nocturnal animals orient DNA in retinal cells to focus light.
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Physics
Nanoclusters seem to skirt physics law
In simulations, tiny loophole allows colliding nanoclusters to increase speed after impact.
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Plants
Landscaper’s darling hybridizes into an environmental nuisance
Variation underlies the Callery pear tree’s transformation .
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Science Future for May 9, 2009
May 10 Winners of the “Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest” announced in Naples, Fla. View entries at illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com May 10–15 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for students in grades 9–12 in Reno, Nev. Visit www.societyforscience.org June 10–14 The World Science Festival in New York City. See the lineup at www.worldsciencefestival.com
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The Fifth Postulate: How Unraveling a Two-Thousand-Year-Old Mystery Unraveled the Universe by Jason Socrates Bardi
The story of the discovery of non-Euclidean geometry. Wiley, 2009, 253 p., $27.95. THE FIFTH POSTULATE: HOW UNRAVELING A TWO-THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY UNRAVELED THE UNIVERSE BY JASON SOCRATES BARDI
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Book Review: Darwin’s Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin’s Views on Human Evolution by Adrian Desmond and James Moore
While forming his theory of common descent, Charles Darwin peered beyond his observations of ants, barnacles and blue-footed boobies to try to comprehend a broader subject: human slavery. He encountered the slave trade’s horrors through stories told within his moneyed, abolitionist family. After visiting slave-holding nations on the Beagle, Darwin was forever haunted by the […]
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Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis: Projects and Principles for Beginning Geologists by Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori
Kid-friendly activities reveal the science behind natural disasters. Chicago Review, 2009, 136 p., $14.95 EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANOES, AND TSUNAMIS: PROJECTS AND PRINCIPLES FOR BEGINNING GEOLOGISTS BY MATTHYS LEVY AND MARIO SALVADORI
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At Nobel Conference, scientists and public converse
Physics professor Charles Niederriter of Gustavus Adolphus College directs the Nobel Conference, an annual forum where scientists and the public discuss a contemporary scientific topic. Held every year at Gustavus Adolphus, in Saint Peter, Minn., this year’s Nobel Conference, October 6–7, will examine the current state of water resources. Staff writer Laura Sanders recently talked […]
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The Genetic Dimension of Height and Health
From Danny Devito to Yao Ming, the world is filled with short people and tall people and everyone in between. While factors such as nutrition influence height differences, much of that variation depends on genes. After all, both of Ming’s parents were basketball stars, and Devito’s were not. THE GENETIC DIMENSION OF HEIGHT AND HEALTH […]
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Letters
Don’t dismiss Lamarck Your January 31 special birthday edition on Darwin (SN: 1/31/09, p. 17) was excellent, but I believe that science has allowed Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s contributions to be overshadowed by Darwin’s. The change that can occur to an organism’s genetic makeup during its own lifetime harks away from Darwin’s slow evolutionary process by chance […]
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Science Past from the issue of May 9, 1959
Forecast 25% increase in air’s carbon dioxide — A 25% increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere during the 150-year period ending in 2000 A.D. has been forecast. Dr. Bert Bolin of the University of Stockholm in Sweden told the National Academy of Sciences meeting in Washington that the burning of […]
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Nanoscale: Visualizing an Invisible World by Kenneth S. Deffeyes and Stephen E. Deffeyes
Illustrations reveal the nanoscale world in rich detail. MIT, 2009, 133 p., $21.95. NANOSCALE: VISUALIZING AN INVISIBLE WORLD BY KENNETH S. DEFFEYES AND STEPHEN E. DEFFEYES