More Stories from the September 10, 2005 issue
- Health & Medicine
Protein fingered in rare psychosis
A protein is pivotal in bringing on the psychotic attacks that beset people with porphyria, a rare inherited disease.
- Tech
Body-fluid battery
A battery that's activated by body fluids such as saliva or urine may one day power devices ranging from disposable home health-care testing kits to emergency radio transmitters that turn on with a lick.
- Planetary Science
Satellites could detect quakes on Venus
Strong seismic activity on Venus could cause brief but detectable temperature increases high in that planet's atmosphere.
- Health & Medicine
Rooting out hidden HIV
A drug called valproic acid, used in combination with other medications, can ferret out HIV that is lying dormant in cells.
- Earth
Cancer-fighting e-mails
A new federal service, offered jointly by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Weather Service, will notify individuals, via e-mail, when the sun's cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation is forecast to be unusually high.
- Health & Medicine
Critical for Coating: Protein directs nerve-sheath construction
A protein produced by nerve cells is essential for the manufacture of myelin, the fatty sheath surrounding nerve fibers.
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Dead Tired: Weary doctors function as if intoxicated
After a month of long hours of challenging work, fatigued physicians show impairments in driving and other tasks requiring constant attention and quick reactions.
- Humans
Hurricane provisions
We at Science News express our strong concern and extend our deepest sympathy to those who are suffering through the ongoing ordeal caused by Hurricane Katrina.
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Thinking the Hurt Away: Expectations hitch ride on pain’s brain pathway
Positive thinking exerts a calming effect on pain-related brain areas, yielding a substantial reduction in the actual perception of pain, a brain-scan investigation suggests.
- Planetary Science
Top of the Martian hill
After a 14-month climb up a Martian hill, NASA's rover Spirit took a panoramic image of the view from the top.
- Materials Science
Sun and Sand: Dirty silicon could supply solar power
Scientists have proposed a way to control the distribution of contaminants in silicon, potentially opening up the use of cheaper starting materials for making solar cells.
- Tech
Electronics Gets Y’s: Nanotubes branch out as novel transistors
Y-shaped nanotubes might become a common component in ultrasmall electronic circuitry.
- Animals
Perfect Match: Tied contest gives fish no hormone rush
A male fish produces a burst of hormones as he fights off an intruder, but this surge isn't triggered simply by fighting.
- Astronomy
Deep Impact
Data from the Deep Impact mission reveal that the bullet that slammed into Comet Tempel 1 on July 4 excavated material that likely hadn't seen the light of day since the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.
- Health & Medicine
When Flu Flies the Coop
Scientists are tracking the spread of a threatening influenza virus in birds and exploring strategies that could be used to halt a potential outbreak in people before it explodes into a global epidemic.
- Humans
Letters from the September 10, 2005, issue of Science News
Pennies in heaven? Why slam a copper impactor into Comet Tempel 1 (“A Grand Slam: In a winning move, NASA probe burrows into a comet,” SN: 7/9/05, p. 22)? Wouldn’t copper vapor contaminate the spray? Why not a high-temperature ceramic? P.M. deLaubenfelsCorvallis, Ore. According to Casey Lisse of the Deep Impact team, copper was chosen […]
