Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from February 2001

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from February 2001

BEND YOUR MIND.
February 9, 2001... * What mathematical symbol can be put between 2 and 3 to make a number greater than 2 but less than 3? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The answers are in the Teacher's Guide. WHATIZIT? These tiny hooks are the sticky parts of a...

Age of Great Pyramid Is in the Stars.
February 9, 2001... CAMBRIDGE, England --One of the many mysteries about the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt is its age. No historical records say exactly when it was built. Now Kate Spence, an Egyptologist at Cambridge University, says she knows the answer. ...

The sci-triv game.
February 9, 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 right,...

The Cells That Wouldn't DIE!(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... MADISON, Wis. -- A routine experiment at the University of Wisconsin has yielded something that might have come out of a mad scientist's lab. In one of pathologist Lynn Allen-Hoffman's studies of human epidermal (skin) cells, something odd...

Volcanoes Bring Black Plague.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... NEW YORK CITY -- Volcanoes have already claimed their share of human lives throughout history. Now a U.S. scientist has blamed the fuming mountains for also causing repeated outbreaks of a deadly disease. Richard Stothers, a climatologist at...

This Robot Is an Eating Machine.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... TAMPA, Fla.--Robots are capable of doing many human activities, such as working on assembly lines and fighting each other in a ring. Now comes a gastrobot, a robot that eats food! Named Chew Chew, the gastrobot has a microbial fuel cell for...

A LOOK AT PREHISTORY.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... The map and the timelines on the next page give you a visual idea of the Neanderthals' history. The map shows the distribution of the Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe 30,000 years ago. The bottom timeline shows the divisions of...

THE LAST YEARS.(Neanderthals)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... If the Neanderthals truly became extinct, as most scientists believe, what did them in? Could they have fallen victim to some kind of foreign invasion? Most scholars agree that the ancestors of early modern humans migrated to Europe from...

Sweet Hearts.(health aspects of chocolate)
February 9, 2001... Some of the ingredients in chocolate might be good for your heart and your teeth. Spoon six scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream into a bowl. Bury that with mounds of gummy bears, chocolate sprinkles, and chocolate chip cookie crumbles...

Sole MATES.(selecting athletic shoes)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... How do you find the athletic shoes that best match your feet? Decisions, decisions! Your mom's just given you money for a new pair of athletic shoes. Should you go for the cool new Nike Shox, the Adidas high-tops that Kobe Bryant's been...

Flying Switchblade.(new military aircraft called Bird of Prey)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... The U.S. military has a secret. According informed sources, a remote Air Force hangar in Nevada houses a new aircraft that has been tested only under cover of night. Called the Bird of Prey, the craft has two wings, each of which swings outward...

WEIRD WIDE WORLD.(cat allergies)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... United States--There seems to be some truth to the old superstition that black cats bring misfortune. Doctors at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., found in a survey that the owners of black cats were four times more likely to...

What Happened to the Neanderthals?
February 9, 2001... Did the Neanderthals become extinct, or do their genes exist in us? One inch. That's how close a bulldozer's blade came to crushing a startling archaeological discovery. The discovery, made in 1998 beside a newly constructed road in...