Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from January 2006

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from January 2006

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science!
January 20, 2006... SCI-TRIV GAME Have fun learning about science! Want to play a game of science trivia? See how many poimts you can win by correctly answering the questions below. To find yiour score, give yourself 10 points each time you get the...

Who knew?(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... STAMFORD, Conn. -- Current Science sends a birthday shout-out to Harriet, the oldest known living animal. Harriet, a giant Galapagos Island tortoise, turned 175 in November. Harriet owes her extraordinary longevity to genes and lifestyle....

Panic attack: scientists question the threat posed by bird flu.(HEALTH)
January 20, 2006... It's almost impossible to open a newspaper or turn on the TV news nowadays without encountering a headline about avian influenza. Better known as bird flu, the disease has killed tens of millions of chickens in Asia. So far, only about 120...

Charge it! Meet the next generation of hybrid car--the "plug-in".(PHYSICAL)
January 20, 2006... IN Hollywood, hybrids are hip. Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz rave about their hybrid cars that combine electric and gasoline power. Hybrids use less gas and produce less pollution than regular cars do. But for some Californians,...

Mars invaders? Did alien microbes seed life on Earth?(EARTH/LIFE)
January 20, 2006... HAVE YOU SEEN the new War of the Worlds movie? In the latest version of the classic H. G. Wells story, hostile aliens don't swoop down from outer space; they burst out of the ground, where they have been lying dormant for years. The notion...

On shaky ground: is San Francisco ready for the next great earthquake?
January 20, 2006... ON THE EVENING OF Oct. 17, 1989, David Schwartz was sitting with his feet up watching TV at home in San Francisco. He vividly remembers that evening not so much because the San Francisco Giants were hosting the Oakland Athletics in the third...

Death ray burns ship.(Technology)(Archimedes' death ray)
January 20, 2006... CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- If you've studied ancient history, you may know about Archimedes and the siege of Syracuse. Archimedes (about 287-212 B.C.E.) was a Greek physicist and mathematician. In 213 B.C., the city of Syracuse on the...

Vampire bats attack.(Life)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... TURIACU, Brazil -- A wave of attacks by vampire bats has killed at least 23 people in northern Brazil. The bats carried the deadly rabies virus. Brazil is undergoing rapid deforestation. Millions of hectares of rain forest have been...

Astronomers see first starlight.(Space)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... GREENBELT, Md. -- U.S. scientists looking deep into space might have captured images of the faint glow given off by the first stars. Called Population III stars, they are thought to have formed shortly after the big bang. The big bang was...

Fungi cross Texas border.(Earth/Life)
January 20, 2006... SEGUIN, Texas -- A Texas student has won the 2005 Popular Mechanics young Achiever Award. Sarah Mims, 19, received the $1,500 scholarship for a backyard project that had totally unexpected results. Mims began the project in 10th grade....

Mice can sing.(TOO WEIRD)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... ST. LOUIS -- Ever since Mickey Mouse made his screen debut in Steamboat Willy in 1928, cartoon mice have been singing their hearts out in movies and on television. Before that, a Victorian legend told of an English gentleman whose pet mouse...

Was 1984 inspired by author's poor health?(Health)(George Orwell's novel 1984)
January 20, 2006... BOSTON -- George Orwell's novel 1984 is a classic tale of dystopia--an imaginary world of the future where people lead dehumanized, often fearful lives. The book's dystopia was partly modeled on the tyrannies that arose in Germany and the...

Insight.(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... This is quick sand! Located in Peru's Ica Desert, this is the tallest sand slope in the world and a haven for sandboarders. Sandboarding is a spin-off of snowboarding, but snowboards don't make good sandboards. Snowboards are too slow on sand....

Mystery photos.(Optricks)
January 20, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Top: hammer Middle: take-out Chinese food container Bottom: bottom of a desk

Whatizit.(Optricks)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... This close-up view of lung tissue reveals a network of small, thin-walled sacs. Their moist surface enables gases to pass betwwen the air and the blood. Oxygen enters the blood; carbon dioxide exits it. What are these sacs called? ...