Vol. 162 No. #22
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More Stories from the November 30, 2002 issue

  1. Astronomy

    Cosmic Couple: One galaxy, two gravitational beasts

    Astronomers welcomed the discovery of two black holes in one galaxy, which confirms some ideas about how galaxies and black holes merge and evolve.

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  2. Computing

    Loony Tunes: Bugs blare in software set to music

    A novel way of converting computer programs into familiar-sounding music helps programmers locate errors in their code.

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  3. Earth

    Outside-In: Clearing up how cloud droplets freeze

    A fresh look at old experimental data suggests that water droplets in clouds freeze from the outside inward rather than from their core outward.

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  4. Lost That Smoking Feeling: Emotions sputter as cigarette motivator

    The first detailed effort to monitor the reactions of cigarette smokers as they carry out their daily activities finds that they feel neither better nor worse than at times when they don't begin smoking.

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  5. Ecosystems

    Worm Attacks: Invading earthworms threaten rare U.S. fern

    An unusual study of the effects of invading earthworms on North American plants finds that the exotics might be on the way to killing off a rare fern.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Predisposed to Trouble: Gene variants implicated in stomach cancer

    A person's risk of stomach cancer can depend on the genetics of both the individual and the bacterium Helicobacter pylori.

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  7. Planetary Science

    Martian Radiation: Giving off a faint X-ray glow

    Astronomers have for the first time taken an X-ray image of the Red Planet.

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  8. Paleontology

    Forged fossil is a fish-eating fowl

    Detailed analyses of Archaeoraptor, a forged fossil once thought to be a missing link between dinosaurs and birds, reveal that the majority of that fake comes from an ancient, fish-eating bird.

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  9. Earth

    El Niños came more often in Middle Ages

    Analyses of layered sediments from a South American lake suggest that the worldwide warm spells known as El Niños occurred more frequently about 1,200 years ago, when Europe was entering the Middle Ages, than they do today.

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  10. Astronomy

    Galactic cannibalism strikes again

    Astronomers have discovered the remains of a tiny galaxy that was swallowed by the galaxy Centaurus A only a few hundred million years ago.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Study exonerates childhood vaccine

    A nationwide study in Denmark provides strong evidence that a childhood vaccine once blamed for some cases of autism plays no role in the development of that neurological disorder.

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  12. Tech

    Resistancefree wire takes long jump

    A wire-making company has demonstrated a process that yields potentially inexpensive, high-current superconducting wires about 10 times longer than previous prototypes.

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  13. Animals

    Hawkmoths can still see colors at night

    For the first time, scientists have found detailed evidence than an animal—a hawkmoth—can see color by starlight.

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  14. Earth

    Child-care sites, health threats

    Federal agencies have completed the first national study of lead, pesticides, and allergens in U.S. child-care facilities.

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  15. Health & Medicine

    Natural fluoride isn’t quite enough

    In the absence of a public water-fluoridation program in eastern Germany, natural background concentrations of fluoride in drinking water affect children’s dental health.

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  16. Earth

    Taming Toxic Tides

    A growing international cadre of scientists is exploring a simple strategy for controlling toxic algal blooms: flinging dirt to sweep the algae from the water.

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  17. Animals

    Mad Deer Disease?

    Chronic wasting disease, once just an obscure brain ailment of deer and elk in a small patch of the West, is turning up in new places and raising troubling questions about risks.

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