More Stories from the October 10, 2009 issue
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Health & MedicineDopamine primes kidneys for a new host
Giving dopamine infusions to brain-dead organ donors may make transplanted kidneys more resilient, a new study shows.
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Space
Panel reports on human spaceflight
Panel suggests how to get human spaceflight program off the ground.
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Earth
Atmospheric rollercoaster followed Great Oxidation Event
Analyses of chromium isotopes in banded iron formations suggest oxygen levels fell for a period after the Great Oxidation Event.
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Health & Medicine
The eyes remember
Eye movements may reveal memories that the hippocampus recalls even when a person isn’t aware of them, a new study shows.
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Space
Metamaterials mock the heavens
Proposed materials offer a way for physicists to study black holes and chaotic planetary orbits in the laboratory.
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Earth
A hurricane-spawned tornado boom
Cyclones striking the Gulf Coast in recent years have spawned more twisters that those that hit the region in the mid-20th century.
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Animals
Ants in the pants drive away birds
Yellow crazy ants can get so annoying that birds don’t eat their normal fruits, a new study finds.
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Astronomy
Rock solid planet
Researchers have found the first compelling evidence for a rocky planet beyond the solar system.
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Health & Medicine
Monkeys get full color vision
Male squirrel monkeys with red-green colorblindness can distinguish the hues after gene therapy, study suggests.
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Space
Galaxies that go the distance
Using a new camera on the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have found what appear to be the most distant known galaxies in the universe.
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Psychology
Rates of common mental disorders double up
New, higher prevalence rates for certain mental disorders fuel a debate over how to revise psychiatric diagnoses.
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Paleontology
Tiny T. rex-like tyrants
Fossils of new species suggest peculiar features weren’t limited to the biggest dinosaurs
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Life
Locust wings built for the long haul
Flexible wings help locusts maximize efficiency in flight, new research shows.
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Humans
Reviewers prefer positive findings
Biomedical research journals may be less likely to publish equivocal studies.
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Science Future for October 10, 2009
October 18–22 The International Diabetes Federation hosts its 20th World Congress for researchers and clinicians in Montreal. Visit http://www.worlddiabetescongress.org November 11–14 National Association of Biology Teachers hosts a professional development conference in Denver. See http://www.nabt2009.org November 14 Scientists and humanities Scholars discuss the union of math and beauty at a roundtable forum in New York […]
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Green Intelligence: Creating Environments that Protect Human Health by John Wargo
Pollution’s past effects could inform today’s environmental policy. Yale Univ. Press, 2009, 400 p., $32.50. GREEN INTELLIGENCE: CREATING ENVIRONMENTS THAT PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH
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Instant Egghead Guide: The Universe by J.R. Minkel and Scientific American
Bite-sized knowledge on subatomic particles, supernovas, time dilation and more.St. Martin’s Griffin, 2009, 221 p., $14.99. INSTANT EGGHEAD GUIDE: THE UNIVERSE
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The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending
Genetic changes reveal how culture has shaped recent human evolution, the authors argue. Basic Books, 2009, 288 p., $27. THE 10,000 YEAR EXPLOSION: HOW CIVILIZATION ACCELERATED HUMAN EVOLUTION
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Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age by Kurt W. Beyer
This biography explores the trials and triumphs of one of computer programming’s few female pioneers.MIT Press, 2009, 389 p., $27.95. GRACE HOPPER AND THE INVENTION OF THE INFORMATION AGE
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Book Review: Connected: The Surprising Power of Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler
Double bacon cheeseburgers, milk shakes and your mother’s best friend’s brother can all make you fat. In Connected, social networking researchers Christakis and Fowler explain such effects by reviewing research into the ways even strangers may impact how you live, love and, yes, gain weight. Social networking studies often rely on high-powered computers that model […]
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Book Review: How We Live and Why We Die: The Secret Lives of Cells by Lewis Wolpert
You don’t hear many scientists describe themselves as cell biologists anymore—geneticist or molecular biologist seems to be preferred. But cells are still more than the sum of their parts. By taking an all-inclusive look at human cells, Wolpert offers a portrait of their seemingly chaotic workings—how cells use checkpoints, backup systems and clever defenses to […]
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Looking for a change on climate policy in Copenhagen
In December, climate scientists, policy makers and other representatives of 192 nations will convene at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. In advance of that meeting, Science News earth sciences writer Sid Perkins spoke with Richard A. Bradley, head of the Energy Efficiency and Environment Division of the International Energy Agency in Paris. […]
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Space
Windows on the Universe
Astronomy’s multiwavelength revolution paints a more complete picture of the cosmos
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Life
Enter the Virosphere
If he were starring in a campy horror flick, Tim Rowbotham might have gasped and whispered, “It’s alive!” As a microbiologist with Britain’s Public Health Laboratory Service, he had isolated an unknown microorganism from an amoeba growing in a water tower in Bradford, England. Rowbotham baptized the entity “Bradford coccus.” He added his new specimen […]
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Science Past from the issue of October 10, 1959
Reserpine Tranquilizes Chickens and Turkeys Calmer birds in the hen house are predicted with the development of a tranquilizer for chickens. A new product containing reserpine, a drug used to control high blood pressure and other human ills, has been developed…. Added to the chickens’ feed in very low concentrations it is said to help […]
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Mathematics in 10 Lessons: The Grand Tour by Jerry P. King
A few fundamental principles and an aesthetic awareness underlie all math, King shows. Prometheus, 2009, 394 p., $18.95. Instant Egghead Guide: The Universe by J.R. Minkel and Scientific American Mathematics in 10 Lessons: The Grand Tour by Jerry P. King