Science in the News Weekly

Happy Birthday Internet, Caring Robots, Forensic Art

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:13:00 EST

In the aftermath of the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression, it's natural for people to question the economic principles that got us into such a pickle. What may be surprising, however, is that physicists have joined in to point out that economists ignore the concept of net energy return on investment at our peril. At the same time, some people are taking energy conservation personally and seriously, especially a Massachusetts family who plan to leave the furnace off this winter. And across the continent, a pair of Canadians are planning to open a desalination business that uses solar heat to dramatically reduce the energy required. ...

A Toddler Gets an Artificial Arm Bone

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:51:00 EST

In what they called a medical first, surgeons implanted an artificial bone in the arm of a 3-year-old to replace his humerus, which was lost during cancer treatment. Nearly a year later, the boy is thriving and cancer-free. ...

An Asteroid Blast and a Russian Trip to Mars

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:50:00 EST

As if there weren't enough natural disasters to worry about, now there's evidence that we're not always aware when asteroids will strike from space. An asteroid exploded high above Indonesia last month, NASA reported weeks later. This one did no harm but released about three times more energy than the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima. ...

Environment: Climate, Bears and Bugs

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:43:00 EST

At the Indigenous Uranium Forum in Acoma, N.M., attendees opposed renewed uranium mining for nuclear energy. They recalled health problems that mining caused to their communities in the past and objected to mining on sacred land. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, two tribes are opposing Cape Wind, an offshore wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound. Desecrating the site with wind turbines would be detrimental to the tribes' spiritual well-being, they say. ...

Science at the Top of the News for October 26-30

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:41:00 EST

The most viewed article last week by subscribers to Science in the News Daily described a new bladeless fan produced by Dyson Inc. The other top two news items included a portrait of the renewal of the Aral Sea in Central Asia and a criticism of organic food by Maywa Montenegro. Subscribe now for free daily updates.

Is Gender a Continuum?

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:29:00 EST

Science answers some questions only to raise new ones, such as how do we define the difference between women and men? In unusual cases, the usual indicators of male and female contradict each other in the same body. The best-known recent example is South African runner Caster Semenya. ...

Astronomy: Moon Debris and Manned Spaceflight

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:27:00 EST

NASA's recent lunar-crash project may not have been a flop after all. Despite disappointing visuals at the time of impact, pictures now in circulation now tell a different story. They show that the high-speed collision of Cabeus on the moon's surface generated the debris plume needed for the sampling and imaging critical to the mission. ...

Ancient Past: Tiny Dinosaur, Surgery on a Mummy

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:25:00 EST

North America's smallest dinosaur weighed less than two pounds and scampered about eating a mixture of plants, eggs and insects. Researchers described the species, Fruitadens haagarorum, based on fossils that were collected in Colorado in 1979 and have been stored in a museum ever since. ...

Technology: Finding Food, Particles and Electricity

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:24:00 EST

More than 50 years after the start of the green revolution, Bill Gates has called for a new effort—one that should be greener than the first and finally reach the billion or so people on this planet who still go hungry. Gates wasn't specific about how this might be accomplished, but the United Kingdom's Royal Society is convinced that genetically modified (GM) crops will need to be a part of the solution. A society expert panel urged that GM research be stepped up as a part of the £2 billion "grand challenge" to prevent future food shortages. But the push toward GM crops took a step backward in India, where the government bowed to activists and postponed approval of an insect-resistant version of aubergine. ...

Beetle Trouble and a Biofuel Mistake

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:22:00 EST

In an ironic turn of events, the Mexican government is felling fir trees to protect monarch butterfly habitat. Late rains left the trees vulnerable to deadly bark beetle attack, and officials—who usually work to stop illegal logging—are themselves cutting and disposing of infested trees in an effort to slow the beetles' spread. ...

Science at the Top of the News for October 19-23

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:20:00 EST

The most viewed article last week by subscribers to Science in the News Daily explored the prevalence of progressive neurological disorder among NFL players. The other top two news items reported new evidence that not one but two asteroids may have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs and profiled the prolific recreational mathematician Martin Gardner. Subscribe now for free daily updates.

Robotic Bugs, Freaked-out Monkeys—and a Custom Vroom for Hybrid Cars

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:50:00 EST

One day last spring, a junior at MIT entertained a wacky daydream: What if he could send a camera way up into the atmosphere to take photos of the earth below? With the help of a friend, he did just that. A helium-filled weather balloon lifted a camera, enclosed in a Styrofoam cooler, into the stratosphere. Five hours later, it parachuted into Worcester, Mass., with 4,000 photos from its journey. ...

Ancient History: Dinosaurs and Deep Sea Life

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:49:00 EST

Skeletons uncovered in northeastern China reveal a surprising step in the evolution of winged dinosaurs. Rather than being entirely intermediate between primitive and advanced specimens, the fossils have the heads of later pterosaurs attached to the bodies of more primitive species. Paleontologists say the discovery supports the idea of modular evolution, in which many traits change quickly and in concert. ...

Frustrated Frogs and Radioactive Rabbits

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:47:00 EST

Frogs in Melbourne, Australia, are having trouble hearing each other over city traffic. Some males have developed a squeakier call that carries better but still isn't preferred by females, National Public Radio reported. Not all animals are as acoustically flexible, and the BBC looked at several species—including birds, bats and frogs—that suffer from noise pollution. ...

Effects of H1N1; Redefining Dementia; Smart Rooks

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:46:00 EST

A little experience with H1N1 flu is giving medical science key insights into how it can be lethal. Lung inflammation and respiratory failure are often responsible for fatal cases of H1N1, three new studies show. The findings also confirm observations that this influenza hits young adults hardest but can be fought off. Regarding influenza strains in general, new research says that side effects from any influenza may show up decades later. Research suggests that unexpected health problems, including heart ailments, may be linked to early exposure to flu. ...

Science at the Top of the News for October 12-16

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:43:00 EST

The most viewed article last week by subscribers to Science in the News Daily debunked rumors that Dec. 21, 2012, is a doomsday date on the Mayan calendar. The other top two news items explored the first experimental demonstration of "magnetricity," the magnetic analogue to electric current, and reviewed the evidence that exposure to earlier flu outbreaks and vaccines confers some benefit against the current H1N1 pandemic. Subscribe now for free daily updates.

Mapping Human Variation, Preterm Births, Glass Viruses, Belief in God

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:02:00 EST

In the world of biomedicine, scientists have generated the most comprehensive map of the structural variation that exists among normal, healthy humans, which is expected to be useful in identifying abnormal changes that may contribute to a wide variety of heritable diseases. ...

A Mysterious Moon, the Messy Universe—and the (Space) Weather Forecast

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:01:00 EST

Iapetus has a dirty face, and it's getting dirtier every day, say astronomers studying Saturn's oddest moon, a sort of yin-yang symbol in space that's almost pitch black on one side and icy bright on the other. The source of the dirt has long been a mystery, but now scientists have found its source: a giant dust ring. ...

Stonehenge's Little Sister, a Lightweight Tyrant

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:01:00 EST

Archaeologists have found evidence of a mini-Stonehenge less than two miles from the famed larger monument. The newfound site, named Bluehenge, is missing its stones—but is represented by 27 holes and chips of rock. Together, the sites may have served as a funeral complex. ...

Carbon Offsets, Albatross on Camera

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST

The bipartisan U.S. Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests reported last week that U.S. companies could save billions of dollars—and still slow climate change—by investing in tropical forest preservation, instead of directly cutting their own pollution. The Los Angeles Times looked at the value of these carbon offsets, as well as the reasons that many environmental groups oppose them. ...