Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from August 2001

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from August 2001

Golden Globe.(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... This glow around Earth, photographed by an orbiting satellite, is the planet's plasmasphere. Plasma, the fourth state of matter, is produced when a gas is heated to the point at which its electrons break away from its atoms. The plasmasphere is...

Mirror, Mirror.(dolphins and self-recognition)(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... Who are the fairest animals in the sea? Dolphins at one U.S. aquarium have been spending lots of time lately looking at themselves in mirrors. The dolphins aren't vain, though. They've been inspecting the washable ink markings that aquarium...

Wacky World.
August 31, 2001... CANADA--Bill collectors came calling on Jack Wright of Kingston, Ontario, earlier this year. Wright had fallen behind in his mortgage and utility payments. Wright apologized and explained that he had no money left over after paying for cat...

Repeat After Me ...(race to clone a human)(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... The race to make the world's first human clone has begun. A 10-month-old baby boy, with deep-blue eyes and an endless smile, died last year during minor heart surgery. His parents, who were told their son would almost certainly survive the...

The Clash Over Human Cloning.(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... Should humans be cloned? Some say yes, cloning will benefit humankind. Others say no, cloning is immoral. Cloning researchers Panayiotis Zavos and Brigitte Boisselier have received thousands of requests from people eager to have copies made...

Faulty Towers.(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... Strange stone spires sprouting from an underwater mountain range surprise a group of deep-diving scientists. Quick. What's the world's longest mountain system? The Andes? You may think so, but no. The Rockies? No. The Himalayas? No. You...

THIN IS IN.(plasma device mechanisms)(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... Flat and tube-free, plasma TV is the latest rage. When 11-year-old Cory Levinson got home from school one day last May, there in the family room stood a brand-new plasma television. Isn't this one of those TVs that only cool people have?...

Fabulous Fossil Strengthens Dino-Bird Link.(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... LIAONING PROVINCE, China--How do you get down from a horse? You don't. You get down from a dinosaur! Ha, ha! That's the newest joke that paleontologists are telling following an amazing fossil discovery in China. The fossil, an imprint in...

This Car Runs on Garbage.(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... ZUBIKON, Switzerland--Some cars are real gas guzzlers, but a new, experimental Swiss sports car is the first grass guzzler. It's powered by fuel made from rotting kitchen and garden waste. Called the Advantige R, the flashy roadster can...

Student Invention Blows Up Bugs.(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... OLD LYME, Conn.--A Connecticut teenager has found a way of doing away with both mosquitoes and the nasty poisons that are commonly used to kill the annoying insects. For his high school science fair project last spring, Michael Nyberg, 14,...

the sci-triv game.(Brief Article)
August 31, 2001... HAVE FUN LEARNING ABOUT SCIENCE Want to play a game of science trivia? See how many points you can win by correctly answering the following questions. To find your score, give yourself 10 points each time you get the first question...

BEND YOUR MIND.
August 31, 2001... MYSTERY PHOTOS [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Find the word that best completes the following sequence: seal alligator orangutan -- 1. koala 2. condor 3. anaconda 4. scorpion The answers are in the Teacher's Guide...

WHATIZIT?
August 31, 2001... Kitchen and bathroom sponges should always be kept clean. If they aren't, these colorful, pathogenic blobs and strings accumulate on them. What might they be? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Whatizit? bacteria on a sponge