Vol. 168 No. #20
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More Stories from the November 12, 2005 issue

  1. Health & Medicine

    A toast to thin blood

    Moderate consumption of alcohol may make a person's blood less likely to clot.

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  2. Physics

    Revisiting Einstein’s incomplete theory

    New, ultraprecise measurements of single-particle trajectories confirm that there's something missing from Einstein's mathematical model for Brownian motion.

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  3. Paleontology

    Mmmm, that’s crunchy

    Isotopic analyses of the teeth of otters and mongooses from Africa have led one paleontologist to suggest that some of humanity's ancient kin shared those modern animals' preference for shelled prey such as freshwater crabs and snails.

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  4. Paleontology

    Tusk analyses suggest weaning took years

    Changes in the proportions of various chemical isotopes deposited in mammoth tusks as they grew have enabled scientists to estimate how long it took juvenile mammoths to become fully weaned.

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  5. Paleontology

    Big bird terrorized South America

    Researchers in Argentina have discovered fossils that may represent the heftiest flightless bird to ever have roamed the planet.

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  6. Anthropology

    Gone with the Flow: Ancient Andes canals irrigated farmland

    Excavations in the Andes mountains have unearthed the earliest known irrigation canals in South America.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Protective Progeny: Peptide treats and prevents breast cancer

    A synthetic version of a protein present in a woman's body during pregnancy is as effective against breast cancer as the current drug tamoxifen is, according to a study in rodents.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Statins for Algernon: Cholesterol-lowering drug fights learning disability

    A study in mice suggests that a drug prescribed for high cholesterol may reverse learning deficits caused by a common genetic disease.

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  9. Chemistry

    Whiff Weapon: Pheromone might control invasive sea lampreys

    Researchers have characterized the primary components of the migratory pheromone that guides sea lampreys to suitable spawning areas.

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  10. Animals

    Yikes! The Moon! Bat lunar phobia may come from slim pickings

    A study of creatures that fly around at night suggests that scarce food may account for why some bats avoid hunting under a full moon.

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  11. Archaeology

    From prison yard to holy ground

    Archaeological excavations at a prison near Megiddo, Israel, have unearthed the remains of what may be one of the region's oldest Christian churches.

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  12. Physics

    Ghostly Electrons: Particles flit through atom-thin islands

    Electrical measurements of one-atom-thick slices of carbon reveal extraordinary electronic properties, including electrons that seem massless and move at blazing speeds.

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  13. Planetary Science

    Protecting Earth: Gravitational tractor could lure asteroids off course

    Relying solely on the tug of gravity, a proposed spacecraft could divert an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.

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  14. Earth

    Runaway Heat?

    A variety of changes in the Arctic is making the region darker and accelerating its warming climate.

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  15. Physics

    That’s the Way the Spaghetti Crumbles

    Investigating how uncooked spaghetti breaks has uncovered new mechanisms behind shattering and energy concentration, with possible implications for how structures fail.

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  16. Humans

    Letters from the November 12, 2005, issue of Science News

    Big leap The pendular running gait described in “Stepping Lightly: New view of how human gaits conserve energy” (SN: 9/17/05, p. 182) as one of the most efficient bipedal gaits looks remarkably like the way eyewitnesses claim Bigfoot creatures move. In a Bigfoot hoax, one might use a gait that is unhuman but energy efficient, […]

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