Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from January 2001

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from January 2001

HAVE A NICE DAY.(happy face spider)
January 5, 2001... The happy face spider of Hawaii isn't really as cheerful as it looks here. Those eyes and lips are simply markings on the spider's abdomen that are sometimes shaped like a smiley face. At other times, the markings can assume other arrangements,...

Raising a Stink.(Rafflesia flower of Indonesia)
January 5, 2001... The Rafflesia flower is not only the world's largest flower, it's also one of the smelliest. Found only in the rain forests of Indonesia, the Rafflesia is a parasitic plant that takes its nourishment from other plants. At about 10 months of...

WEIRD WORLD.(bacteria in space, flying pig)
January 5, 2001... INNSBRUCK--Austrian researchers have discovered countless unidentified flying objects above Earth. The UFO aren't alien spacecraft, however; they're bacteria. The discovery surprised the researchers because the clean, cold air at high altitudes...

KiCKiNG ROBUTT.(how one teen competed in 'BattleBots')
January 5, 2001... How one teen used physics to build a mean fighting machine for TV's BattleBots. Two robots square off in a ring of steel. One bashes into the other, knocking it onto a whirring buzz saw. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sparks and shards of metal fly as...

SPECiAL DELiVERY.(competing on 'BattleBots')
January 5, 2001... A computer gives birth to robotic `life.' Winning is just the beginning for some BattleBot contestants. Charles Tilford, one of the inventors of a ferocious BattleBot named The Mauler, said his plans include "total robotic domination...

Bitter Medicine?(family wonders if Accutane caused son's depression)
January 5, 2001... A U.S. congressman has implicated a popular acne medication in the suicide of his teenage son. On the morning after his junior prom last spring, B.J. Stupak, 17, raised a .38 caliber revolver to his head and pulled the trigger. Just hours...

The Mystery of the Missing Mass.(only fraction of universe is known to scientists)
January 5, 2001... Even the most advanced scientific instruments can't find most of the universe. Astronomers have a huge problem on their hands: They can't find most of the universe! No kidding. They think they know how much matter is out in space, but they...

Drug Company Sues Scientists.
January 5, 2001... CARLSBAD, Calif.--A company that is developing a drug designed to prevent people from developing acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has taken two scientists to court for publishing unfavorable research about the drug. The drug,...

Can Electrons Be Split in Two?
January 5, 2001... PROVIDENCE--In science class, you've probably learned that electrons, the lightest of all the particles in the atom, can't be split in two. Well, what you've learned just might be wrong. Humphrey Maris, a physicist at Brown University, stunned...

Wasps Turn Spiders Into Slaves.
January 5, 2001... SAN JOSE, Costa Rica--Biologist William Eberhard thought he knew everything about the behavior of the orb weaver spiders that live in the Costa Rican rain forest. Then he found something "really weird." The orb weaver spider normally spins...

New Plutino Found.
January 5, 2001... MERIDA, Venezuela--Amateur astronomers should keep their eyes out for a new sight in the night sky this month. In October, an international team of astronomers reported finding a new minor planet between Neptune and Pluto. Astronomers say...

SNACK TIME.(grounds for wild animals in luxury hotel in Kenya)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... Most yards have dogs, cats, or birds in them. Bryony and Rick Anderson's yard has giraffes. The Andersons live in Kenya and run a luxury hotel where the grounds are home to eight rare Rothschild giraffes, as well as leopards, warthogs, and...

WHO KNEW?
January 19, 2001... The Hershey's Kiss got its name from the puckering sound made by the manufacturing equipment as chocolate was dropped onto the conveyor belt during the production process. Mexican jumping beans jump because a tiny caterpillar is trapped...

MENDING GENES.(advancements in gene repair research for cure of Crigler-Najjar syndrome and other genetic disorders)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... Amy and Derick Martin are waiting for a new type of gene therapy that might save their lives. Amy Martin, 8, wants other kids to stop staring at her yellow eyes. Her mom explains that those kids don't understand that Amy and her brother...

FINGERS CROSSED.(gene repair research for treatment of genetic disorders)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... As Katie Martin listened to the talk, she couldn't help but think that gene repair might give Amy and Derick a chance to be cured of their disease. "It's just so exciting," she said. "The future looks so bright, where before it looked so dark."...

Gene Therapy Turns 10.(beginnings and recent developments in gene-replacement therapy and research)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... Ashanti DeSilva, 14, holds a unique place in medical history. Ten years ago, she became the first person in the world to receive human gene therapy. Because of a faulty gene, Ashanti's immune system couldn't make a critical enzyme, called...

One Brave Boy.(death of gene therapy clinical trial volunteer Jesse Gelsinger)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... Gene therapy suffered a major setback in September 1999 when Jesse Gelsinger, 18, died during an experimental gene therapy trial at the University of Pennsylvania. Gelsinger wasn't participating in the experiment for his own good. He was doing...

This Dog Digs History.(training and use of dog in archaeological excavation and criminal forensics)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... Eagle the canine archaeologist can sniff out ancient human remains. The slender black dog named Eagle moves swiftly in ever-smaller circles, nose to the ground, intent on an invisible quarry. Handler and trainer Sandra Anderson directs him...

GOING UP!(foreseen construction of fixed elevator-like vessel for outer space travel)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... Your first ride into space might be in an elevator You're having the thrill ride of your life, hurtling vertically into the air at 3,000 kilometers an hour. Up, way up, past the clouds you go, watching the blue sky grow darker and the...

Sick of the Weather.(weather-related outbreak of diseases)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... When extreme weather blows in, public health can suffer. In 1993, a medical emergency gripped the Navajo Indian Nation in Arizona and New Mexico. Several tribe members had come down with a frightening affliction that flooded their lungs...

Antimatter Might Whisk Humans Into Deep Space.(foreseen space vehicle propulsion through antimatter-released energy)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... HUNTSVILLE, Ala.--What sounds like fiction out of Star Trek might become a fact in the near future. Engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Pennsylvania State University have envisioned spacecraft driven by...

Organic Pesticide Linked to Brain Disease.(research on links between biopesticide Rotenone and Parkinson's Disease)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... ATLANTA--A pesticide found in many plant sprays and flea powders has been linked to Parkinson's disease, an incurable illness that afflicts more than 1 million Americans, including such well-known people as Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali. ...

Too Weird.(blurry vision caused by infrasound waves)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... Ghosts Busted in Haunted Rooms Vic Tandy, a computer expert, was working late one night in a laboratoryin Warwick, England, which had a history of being haunted. At one point, a cold sweat and a feeling of depression overcame Tandy. Then a...

ASK PROFESSOR OSSOLOTCH.(causes of cold-weather hair static)(Brief Article)(Column)
January 19, 2001... Why does my hair get so staticky when it's cold outside? It's so annoying. -- Lora Seider, Oostburg, Wis. Dear Lora, I hear you, sister! As you can tell from my photo, my own hair sometimes looks a fright, especially in winter....

BEND YOUR MIND.(Brief Article)
January 19, 2001... * Put four dimes and four nickels in the 16 squares in such a way that no two coins of the same denomination are in the same vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The answers are in the Teacher's Guide. ...