More Stories from the November 7, 2009 issue
- Psychology
Joint attention provides clues to autism and cooperation
Psychologists and philosophers convene to discuss the roots of shared knowledge at a meeting in Waltham, Mass.
- Space
Inspecting an asteroid that hit Earth
Researchers have analyzed fragments from 2008 TC3, the first asteroid ever tracked during its descent.
- Space
Largest known planetary ring discovered
Researchers have found a dusty band that circles Saturn and has a radius of more than 12 million kilometers.
- Health & Medicine
Retrovirus might be culprit in chronic fatigue syndrome
An obscure pathogen shows up often in people diagnosed with the condition, scientists find.
- Chemistry
New view reveals how DNA fits into cell
A new technique allows scientists to map the 3-D structure of the entire human genome.
- Life
Monkey moms and babies communicate from the start
Macaque mothers and infants engage in emotional interactions similar to those of human moms and their babies, a new study suggests.
- Space
Ice confirmed on an asteroid
Reporting from the American Astronomical Society meeting in Puerto Rico, planetary scientists confirm, for the first time, the presence of frozen water on an asteroid.
- Space
Moon crash delivers no obvious plume
But the two impacts still yield data that could help in search for water
- Paleontology
Fungi thrived during mass extinction
Fossil analyses hint that several species thrived during the world’s largest mass extinction.
- Physics
Entangled photons make better messengers
Quantum effect allows light to carry information farther for computing and encryption
- Health & Medicine
Getting to the core of H1N1 flu deaths
Lung inflammation and a lack of oxygen in the blood appear responsible for most fatal cases of H1N1 (swine) flu, three studies show.
- Space
Europa’s proposed ocean could be rich in oxygen
A proposed ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa may receive about 100 times more oxygen than previously estimated.
- Life
Fly pheromones can say yes and no
A new study begins to decode pheromone messages and finds that the same chemicals that attract can also maintain the species barrier.
- Chemistry
Tongue’s sour-sensing cells taste carbonation
A protein splits carbon dioxide to give fizz its unique flavor.
- Life
Golgi’s job stretches it thin
Researchers have pinpointed the protein that gives a cell’s control room its shape and also keeps it functioning.
- Computing
Quantum computers could tackle enormous linear equations
New work suggests that the envisioned systems would be powerful enough to quickly process even trillions of variables.
- Life
Humpback whale alters song if another one sings along
Acoustical study of male songs shows first evidence of the whales responding musically to each other.
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Science Future for November 7, 2009
November 18 Last day entries for the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search will be accepted. Download forms at www.societyforscience.org November 24 Biologist E.O. Wilson and others lecture at Harvard on the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s Origin of Species. Sign up for viewings at darwinlecture4.eventbrite.com November 30 Meeting for scientists and policy makers on Antarctic research […]
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Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History by Judith S. Weis and Carol A. Butler
A biologist and writer team up to describe human impacts on salt marshes. Rutgers Univ., 2009, 254 p., $23.95. SALT MARSHES: A NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY BY JUDITH S. WEIS AND CAROL A. BUTLER
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The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 12
The latest volume of Einstein’s collected works, containing hundreds of letters and transcripts of lectures and interviews. Princeton Univ., 2009, 609 p., $125. THE COLLECTED PAPERS OF ALBERT EINSTEIN, VOL. 12
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Pluto Confidential: An Insider Account of the Ongoing Battles over the Status of Pluto by Laurence A. Marschall and Stephen P. Maran
Two astronomers report on the controversies surrounding Pluto’s planethood or lack thereof. BenBella Books, 2009, 223 p., $14.95. PLUTO CONFIDENTIAL: AN INSIDER ACCOUNT OF THE ONGOING BATTLES OVER THE STATUS OF PLUTO BY LAURENCE A. MARSCHALL AND STEPHEN P. MARAN
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Armadillo Trail: The Northward Journey of the Armadillo by Stephen R. Swinburne
The story of an armadillo and her pups introduces young readers to the mammals. Boyds Mills Press, 2009, 32 p., $16.95. ARMADILLO TRAIL: THE NORTHWARD JOURNEY OF THE ARMADILLO BY STEPHEN R. SWINBURNE
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Book Review: Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style by Randy Olson
Review by Sid Perkins.
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Snapshots from 25 years of publicizing astronomy
Astronomer and author Stephen P. Maran recently retired from 25 years as press officer for the American Astronomical Society. He also worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for more than 35 years. Known for his Einsteinian hair, along with his quips and insightful comments at press briefings that drew record crowds, […]
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A partnership apart
DNA in hand, scientists dissect and redefine the iconic lichen mutualism.
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As the worms churn
Burrowing animals mix soil and sediments, shaping the environment and scientists’ understanding of it.
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Better living through plasmonics
Mixing light with nanotechnology could help treat cancer and build faster computers.
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Letters
Sore words I don’t usually write to magazines, and I’ve never written to yours before, though I’ve enjoyed and learned much from it for many years thanks to it being produced in Braille. But I couldn’t let your article on swearing relieving pain [“%$!” makes you feel better,” (SN: 8/1/09, p. 9)] go by. Without […]
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Science Past from the issue of November 7, 1959
Russians release photos of moon’s far side — Russian scientists have released a photograph of the far side of the moon as taken from U.S.S.R. satellite Lunik III. The photograph on the cover of this week’s Science News Letter shows the far side of the moon. Soviet astronomers identify the long solid lines as the […]
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Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER by Julie Holland
A psychiatrist shares anecdotes from her career treating the mentally ill at the nation’s oldest public hospital. Bantam Books, 2009, 308 p., $25. WEEKENDS AT BELLEVUE: NINE YEARS ON THE NIGHT SHIFT AT THE PSYCH ER BY JULIE HOLLAND
