Vol. 162 No. #20
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More Stories from the November 16, 2002 issue

  1. Health & Medicine

    Duct tape sticks it to warts

    Treating a wart with a covering of duct tape seems to be more effective—and less painful—than removing the wart by freezing it with liquid nitrogen.

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  2. Planetary Science

    Another moon for Uranus

    Astronomers have confirmed the existence of the 21st moon known to be orbiting Uranus.

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  3. Planetary Science

    Europa’s freckles

    Reddish spots and shallow pits that pepper the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa may mark regions where warmer and less dense ice percolates to the surface.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Immune protein may stall HIV

    People who have HIV but don't progress to AIDS make extra perforin, a protein that helps kill infected cells.

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  5. Animals

    Tadpoles kill by supersuction

    A high-speed video shows tiny African tadpoles that catch their prey in a manner unlike that used by any other frog larvae: by shooting out a tubular mouth for superfast suction.

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  6. Physics

    Speedy impacts send microwave distress calls

    Laboratory smash-ups mimicking those between fast-moving space debris and satellites appear to emit microwave bursts, suggesting that microwave detectors might someday prove useful for monitoring the health of spacecraft.

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  7. Earth

    Shaked Alaska: A sleepy fault wakes and reveals new links

    One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded on U.S. land shook south-central Alaska on Nov. 3, revealing activity along the Denali fault.

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  8. Thoughtful Lessons: Training may enhance intellect in elderly

    The largest study of its kind finds that a brief training course in memory, reasoning, or visual concentration boosts performance on laboratory tests of these cognitive skills among physically healthy elderly people.

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  9. Animals

    Ear for Killers: Seals discern foes’ from neighbor-whales’ calls

    Harbor seals eavesdrop on killer whales and can tell the harmless neighborhood fish eaters from roving gangs with a taste for fresh seal.

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  10. The Brain’s Funny Bone: Seinfeld, The Simpsons spark same nerve circuits

    Brain scans of people watching sitcoms show that different brain regions spark with activity when a person initially gets a joke versus when he or she subsequently responds to its humor.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Attack of the Clones: Immune cells single out melanoma tumors

    Scientists can extract immune system cells that recognize tumor cells from people with melanoma, culture the rare cells to greatly increase their number, and inject them into the patients, sometimes putting the brakes on cancer.

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  12. Tech

    Hidden Costs: It takes much stuff to make one tiny chip

    A new analysis reveals that the production of a single 2-gram microchip requires nearly 2 kilograms of chemicals and fossil fuels.

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  13. Sizing Up the Brain

    Genetic mutations that produce small brains provide insight into the formation and evolution of the human brain.

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  14. Tech

    Hot Flashes, Cold Cuts

    By obliterating matter in a never-before-seen way, a new breed of lasers cuts everything from eyeballs to diamonds with unprecedented precision.

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  15. Astronomy

    Something New on the Sun

    The sharpest visible-light images of the sun ever recorded are revealing puzzling, new features of sunspots, the dark regions where the sun's powerful magnetic field is concentrated.

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