Back to newsletter listWeekly e-Letter from Science News
January 19, 2008
==================================
Science News is an award-winning weekly newsmagazine covering the most important research in all fields of science. Published since 1922, its 16 pages are packed with short, accurate articles that appeal to both general readers and scientists.
----------------------------------
Currently in Science News for Kids:
Babies Prove Sound Learners
Scientists are gaining new insights into why babies are so good at learning languages.
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20080116/Feature1.asp
==================================
This Week's Featured Articles:
[Biomedicine]
Getting the Red Out: Drug improves kids' psoriasis symptoms
The rheumatoid arthritis drug etanercept clears up psoriasis in children and may become the first systemic medication for the ailment in youngsters.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/fob1.asp
[Science & Society]
A Thirst for Meat: Changes in diet, rising population may strain China's water supply
Rapid industrialization, an increase in population, and a growing dietary preference for meat in China are straining the country's water resources to the point where food imports probably will be needed to meet demand in coming decades.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/fob4.asp
[Science & Society]
Judging Science: Courts may be too skeptical of research done with juries in mind
Scientists and legal scholars argue that studies conducted with litigation in mind are not necessarily more biased than research done for other purposes.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/bob10.asp
THIS WEEK'S ONLINE FEATURES:
[MATHTREK]
Checking It Twice
Election officials have had no practical way to guarantee a correct ballot count--until now.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/mathtrek.asp
[FOOD FOR THOUGHT]
How Plastic We've Become
Uncle Sam has confirmed it: Our bodies carry residues of kitchen plastics.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/food.asp
[TIMELINE]
From the January 15, 1938, issue
Radio-assisted snowplows, getting to know the "X" particle, and ancient frozen mammoths found in Siberia.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/timeline.asp
----------------------------------
To subscribe to Science News magazine, go to www.sciencenews.org
----------------------------------
Week of January 19, 2008; Vol. 173, No. 3
THIS WEEK'S TABLE OF CONTENTS: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/toc.asp
References and sources for all articles are available online at www.sciencenews.org
***********************************
REGISTERED SUBSCRIBERS to the print edition of Science News also have online access to the full text of the following articles:
[Biomedicine]
Phoenix Heart: Replacing a heart's cells could ease transplants
Scientists removed all the cells from a dead rat heart, injected new heart cells, and produced a beating heart, paving the way for eventually growing organs for transplantation in humans.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/fob2.asp
[Physics]
Dusty Fireball: Can lab-made blob explain ball lightning?
Artificial cousins of ball lightning contain microscopic particles, just like a model says they should. **With video**.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/fob3.asp
[Astronomy]
Second Time Around: Some old stars may make new p***ts
Two old stars appear to have been rejuvenated and may be undergoing a new wave of p***t formation hundreds of millions to billions of years after young stars normally do.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/fob5.asp
[Biology]
When Mice Fly: Bat DNA leads to longer limbs in mouse embryos
Mice with a stretch of bat DNA grow longer limbs, a possible step in the evolutionary path to wings.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/fob6.asp
[Anthropology]
Infectious Voyagers: DNA suggests Columbus took syphilis to Europe
A genetic analysis of syphilis and related bacterial strains from different parts of the world fits the theory that Christopher Columbus and his crew brought syphilis from the Americas to Renaissance Europe, where it evolved into modern strains of the sexually transmitted disease.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/fob7.asp
[Astronomy]
X-raying a galactic jet set
The deepest X-ray portrait ever taken of the galaxy Centaurus A highlights its jets and activity around its supermassive black hole.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/fob8.asp
[Biomedicine]
Blind Bet: Despite uncertain odds, many horse owners gamble on stem cell therapy
Although the chances of success are far from certain, many desperate horse owners are gambling on stem cell therapy for their injured equine friends.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/bob9.asp
[Science & Society]
Transport emissions sizable, and rising
Almost one-sixth of the carbon dioxide produced by human activity since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution resulted from the transport of goods and people--an emissions fraction that's increasing by the year.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/note11.asp
[Biomedicine]
Night lights may foster cancer
Regularly working through the night appears to come at a steep cost--a heightened risk of cancer.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/note12.asp
[Technology]
Retro RAM
A prototype memory chip stores data bits using carbon nanotubes as mechanical switches.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/note13.asp
[Zoology]
Butterfly's clock linked to compass
The most detailed look yet at the monarch butterfly's daily rhythm keeper suggests it's closer to ancient forms than to the fruit fly's or mouse's inner clock.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/note14.asp
[Biomedicine]
Sleep disruption and glucose processing
Shallow sleep can depress the body's ability to process glucose efficiently.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/note15.asp
[Environment]
Switchgrass may yield biofuel bounty
Making ethanol from switchgrass yielded more than 5 times more energy than needed to grow the crops in a large-scale farming trial.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/note16.asp
[Biomedicine]
HIV variant might help vaccine search
Scientists have discovered an unusual HIV protein in a Kenyan woman that makes the virus vulnerable to antibodies.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/note17.asp
[Earth Science]
Bird's-eye view of Antarctic ice loss
Satellite images of Antarctica between 1992 and 2006 indicate that the continent was losing ice much faster at the end of that period than it was a decade before.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/note18.asp
[Science & Society]
Letters from the January 19, 2008, issue of Science News
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080119/letter19.asp
==================================
To subscribe to Science News magazine, go to http://www.sciencenews.org
***************************
Science News for Kids
Go to http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org
==================================
Subscriptions to the audio edition of Science News can be obtained at http://www.audible.com/sciencenews
Letters to the editor of Science News should be addressed to editors@sciencenews.org
Comments about this newsletter can be sent to sciweb@sciencenews.org
----------------------------------------
You are subscribed to this list as clifordharry@gmail.com. To ***, send email to ***.229149.185848074.5199583420235614656-clifordharry_gmail.com@en.groundspring.org.
==================================
Science News and Weekly e-Letter from Science News are published and copyrighted (c) 2008 by
Society for Science & the Public,
1719 N Street NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20036
United States
