More Stories from the September 28, 2002 issue
- Health & Medicine
New twist on a pet theory
Growing up with cats may reduce a child's risk of developing asthma—unless the child's mother has asthma as well.
- Earth
Much that glitters is really old
New isotopic analyses of rock samples from one of the world's richest gold-mining regions suggest that the flecks of gold in those ores are more than 3 billion years old.
- Astronomy
Found: Gamma-ray background information
Resolving a 30-year-old mystery, astronomers say they have identified the source of the faint, high-energy glow of radiation known as the gamma-ray background.
- Health & Medicine
Immune gene linked to prostate cancer
An immune-cell gene plays a role in predisposing men to prostate cancer.
- Astronomy
Big Bang Confirmed: Seeing twists and turns of primordial light
The latest observations of the cosmic microwave background reveal that photons from adjacent patches of the sky have slightly different polarizations.
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Psychotic Biology: Genes yield clues to schizophrenia’s roots
Two genes involved in the transmission of glutamate, a key chemical messenger in the brain, are linked to the occurrence of the severe mental disorder schizophrenia.
- Health & Medicine
New Drugs Beat Old Flu: Antiviral agents counter deadly 1918 influenza
After partially recreating a deadly influenza virus that swept the globe from 1918 to 1919 and killed millions of people, researchers have shown that available flu drugs could probably prevent a new pandemic of the 1918 influenza strain or a similar flu.
- Materials Science
Bigger, Cheaper, Safer Batteries: New material charges up lithium-ion battery work
A new material could make rechargeable lithium-ion batteries smaller, cheaper, and safer.
- Plants
Underground Hijinks: Thieving plants hack into biggest fungal network
For the first time, plants have been caught tapping into the most widespread of soil fungi networks and using it to steal food from green plants.
- Health & Medicine
Another Polio? Alarming West Nile fever risks emerge
Medical workers have found poliolike symptoms in a few victims of West Nile fever, and federal officials noted that blood transfusions appear to have infected some people.
- Health & Medicine
Sideways Glance: Training helps people circumvent failing sight
Researchers have developed a rehabilitation regime that may enable many elderly people with age-related macular degeneration to improve their vision.
- Tech
Liquid Logic: Tiny plumbing networks concoct and compute
By incorporating thousands of simple valves into microscopic networks of rubbery pipes and chambers, scientists have created fluid-manipulating microchips of unprecedented power.
- Health & Medicine
Surgery beats splints for wrist syndrome
Surgery proves better than nighttime splints for relieving the pain of carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Health & Medicine
Are varsity athletes prone to ALS?
A survey of patients treated for neurological problems reveals that those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) are more likely to have been varsity athletes and remained slim all their lives.
- Materials Science
Materials with Memory
Metal alloys and polymers that can remember a preprogrammed shape may literally reshape technologies ranging from warfare to medicine and car repair.
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Get Rid of the Bodies
Scientists are learning how organisms safely clear out cell corpses.
