Vol. 164 No. #11
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More Stories from the September 13, 2003 issue

  1. Earth

    Exposure to phthalate may shorten pregnancy

    Babies exposed to a common phthalate plasticizer before birth spend a week less in the womb than do those without evidence of exposure.

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  2. Chemistry

    Secret of strong silk

    By controlling the amount of water in their glands, spiders and silkworms prevent their silk proteins from crystallizing prematurely.

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  3. Paleontology

    Fossils’ ear design hints at aquatic lifestyle

    New studies of distinctive skull structures in fossils of one of Earth's earliest-known four-limbed creatures suggest the animal could hear best when it was underwater.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Grades slipping? Check for snoring

    Children who snore frequently are more likely to struggle with their schoolwork than are children who rarely snore.

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  5. Astronomy

    Solar system replica?

    Carefully monitoring the motion of a star 90 light-years from Earth, astronomers have found what may be the closest analog known to our solar system.

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  6. Earth

    New mantle model gets the water out

    A novel notion of geophysical processes taking place deep within our planet may explain why the upper layer of Earth's mantle is relatively depleted of many trace elements.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Coronary calcium may predict death risk

    The amount of calcium in the coronary arteries can serve as a risk marker for people who are otherwise without heart disease symptoms.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Control of animal epidemic slowed human illness

    Control measures implemented in response to the devastating animal epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease can apparently help curtail the spread of the cryptosporidium parasite, which sickens people.

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  9. Astronomy

    A Low Note in Cosmos: Sounding out a new role for black holes

    Astronomers have for the first time detected sound waves generated by a black hole.

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  10. Physics

    Fusion Boost: Promising path to heavy nuclei

    By using radioactive nuclei as projectiles in accelerator-based nuclear collisions, scientists may be able to produce more readily than expected many exotic heavy nuclei that are impossible to make today but are crucial for future advances in nuclear physics.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Damage Patrol: Enzyme may reveal cancer susceptibility

    People with lung cancer show less DNA-repair activity by a certain enzyme than people without the disease do.

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  12. DNA Tie for Two Disorders: Genetic defects link psychiatric ailments

    Alterations of genes that produce a protective, fatty coating for brain cells may influence the development of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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  13. Health & Medicine

    Sweet Relief: Comfort food calms, with weighty effect

    Chronic stress might drive people to consume comfort foods that can soothe the brain.

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  14. Health & Medicine

    Paper Chased: Cancer-vaccine study is retracted

    Researchers in Germany have retracted a paper that reported promising results for a vaccine that elicited immune responses against cancer cells.

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  15. Earth

    River Stats Trickle In: Major floods may be waning in Europe

    A new analysis of historical flood records from central Europe suggests that widespread inundations in the region have been on the wane for the past century or so.

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  16. Earth

    Danger in the Air

    To minimize the threat of volcanic ash plumes to aircraft, scientists are improving methods of satellite detection and developing ground-based gas and ash-plume sensors to monitor volcanic activity.

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  17. Tech

    Memory Enhancers

    Engineers take aim at increasing the density of data storage on magnetic media.

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