Vol. 168 No. #11
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More Stories from the September 10, 2005 issue

  1. 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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. 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.

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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.

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  6. 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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  7. 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.

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  8. 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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  9. 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.

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. Tech

    Electronics Gets Y’s: Nanotubes branch out as novel transistors

    Y-shaped nanotubes might become a common component in ultrasmall electronic circuitry.

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  13. 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.

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  14. 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.

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  15. 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.

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  16. 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 […]

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