More Stories from the November 20, 2004 issue
- Health & Medicine
A vaccine for cervical cancer
A vaccine against human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer, has proved 94 percent effective in preventing the virus from infecting women.
- Health & Medicine
Staph receptor as drug target
A receptor molecule on the surface of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus might present an exploitable weak spot in the microbe's defenses.
- Paleontology
The big fish that went away . . .
Fossils found near Charleston, S.C., suggest that an extinct species of billfish related to today's swordfish and marlin would easily exceed the lengths documented for world-record specimens of those oft-sought sports fish.
- Paleontology
. . . and the big bird that didn’t
The California condor, one of today's largest and rarest birds, may have survived the last ice age because of its varied diet.
- Paleontology
Plenty of dinosaurs yet to be found
Despite a dramatic surge in dinosaur discoveries in recent years, paleontologists won't soon run out of interesting new fossils to unearth, a new analysis suggests.
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Profiles in Melancholy, Resilience: Abused kids react to genetics, adult support
Abused and neglected children who possess two copies of a gene that affects brain chemistry develop depression at an elevated rate only if they also lack support from at least one adult.
- Chemistry
Busy Beads: Magnetic dust takes droplets for a ride
With a bit of dust and a magnet, chemists can shuttle drops around on a surface, an advance that could lead to chemistry labs on a chip.
- Tech
Lighthearted Transistor: Electronic workhorse moonlights as laser
A versatile new transistor amplifies electricity and emits a laser beam.
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Unhealthy Change: Diversity in a bacterial colony can prolong infections
Bacteria that live in biofilms can diversify into several different types, making infections harder to treat.
- Health & Medicine
Problems for Preemies: Early birth is linked to insulin overproduction
Children born prematurely are more likely than their full-term counterparts to develop insulin resistance, a marker for diabetes.
- Health & Medicine
Lingering Loss: In 2-year diet trial, new pill keeps off weight
Obese adults who lose weight during a year of taking an experimental diet drug, rimonabant, and dieting keep the weight off during the following year, if they continue the regimen.
- Astronomy
Belt Tightening: Icy orbs are surprisingly small
Objects in the distant reservoir of comets known as the Kuiper belt are intrinsically much brighter, and therefore smaller, than previously thought.
- Planetary Science
A Titan of a Mission
On Jan. 14, a space probe will plunge through the thick atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, looking for insights into the origins of life on Earth.
- Ecosystems
One-Celled Socialites
A wave of research on the social lives of bacteria offers insights into the evolution of cooperation and may lead to medical breakthroughs that neutralize virulent bacterial strains.
- Humans
Letters from the November 20, 2004, issue of Science News
When Earth got gas Considering the controversy that Thomas Gold engendered when he first postulated abiogenic origins of earthly hydrocarbons, it’s odd you didn’t mention his name, in “Deep Squeeze: Experiments point to methane in Earth’s mantle” (SN: 9/25/04, p. 198: Deep Squeeze: Experiments point to methane in Earth’s mantle). Edgar T. LynkNiskayuna, N.Y. Although […]
