Vol. 160 No. #20
Archive Issues Modal Example
|

More Stories from the November 17, 2001 issue

  1. Desert beetle catches fog on its back

    The bumpy back of a desert beetle has inspired a design for collecting water from fog.

    By
  2. When ground squirrels cry badger

    Richardson's ground squirrels respond differently to alarm calls depending on whether the caller has a history of false alarms.

    By
  3. Health & Medicine

    Seizures and reproductive ills linked

    Abnormal electrical signaling in the brains of women with epilepsy may alter sex hormone cycling and explain why epileptic women seem to have a higher rate of reproductive disorders than do other women.

    By
  4. Health & Medicine

    Reducing blood pressure in the lungs

    A new drug seems to help reduce abnormally high blood pressure in the lungs, a condition that can trigger heart failure.

    By
  5. Chemistry

    New sensor can ID dangerous bacteria

    When newly created organic molecules, called TWTCPs, are attached to a porous silicon wafer and exposed to a certain class of bacterium, the wafer changes color.

    By
  6. Chemistry

    Foam gets its shot at anthrax

    A recently developed chemical cocktail that kills anthrax spores and breaks down chemical warfare agents and anthrax has received its first real- world trials in anthrax cleanups.

    By
  7. Earth

    Cancer risk linked to night shifts

    Women who work the graveyard shift increase their chance of developing breast cancer, perhaps because of chronic suppression of melatonin.

    By
  8. Earth

    EPA switchback on arsenic

    On Oct. 31, the Environmental Protection Agency rescinded its March decision to rescind a proposed tougher limit on arsenic in drinking water and is now planning to implement the tougher limit of 10 parts per billion in 2006.

    By
  9. Health & Medicine

    Cholesterol enables nerve cells to connect

    Neurons form connections with each other using cholesterol supplied by other brain cells called glia.

    By
  10. Earth

    Sediments Sink River’s Flow into Sea

    Deep-sea observations of occasional sediment-rich plumes of fresh water dumped into the ocean by rivers suggest that such underflows may be a prime conveyor of pesticides, organic carbon, and various nutrients to the seafloor.

    By
  11. Physics

    The Brazil nut effect gets more jumbled

    New and puzzling evidence for why big particles bob to the top when mixtures of granular materials are shaken-the so-called Brazil nut effect-emerges from an experiment showing that even the air between grains plays a role.

    By
  12. Animals

    She-male garter snakes: Some like it hot

    Male garter snakes that emerge from hibernation and attract a mob of deluded male suitors may just be looking for safety in numbers and body heat.

    By
  13. Paleontology

    New fossils threaten an extinction theory

    Recent discoveries of long-dead marine invertebrates call into question the occurrence of a catastrophic global extinction during the Late Devonian period, between 385 and 375 million years ago.

    By
  14. Archaeology

    Farmers took fast track in settling Europe

    A review of radiocarbon evidence indicates that farming groups colonized southern Europe over no more than 100 to 200 years, beginning around 7,400 years ago.

    By
  15. Astronomy

    SOHO craft gets the lowdown on sunspots

    Using sound waves to obtain the first clear picture of the structure beneath the surface of a sunspot, scientists say they now have an explanation for why these dark blemishes-sites of intense magnetic activity-can persist for days.

    By
  16. Health & Medicine

    Heart pump extends patients’ survival

    Patients who have an implanted device to help the heart pump blood have a higher survival rate than patients getting only heart medication.

    By
  17. Health & Medicine

    The Science of Secretin

    The discovery that a gut hormone also exists in the brain may shed light on the origins of autism.

    By
  18. Computing

    Sneaky Calculations

    The same communication system that brings you the Web page of your choice can be exploited to perform computations.

    By