Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from March 2006

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from March 2006

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science!
March 3, 2006... Want to play a game of science trivia? See how many points you can win by correctly answering the questions below. To find your score, give yourself 10 points each time you get the first question right, 20 points for each...

Who knew?(Pet DW Room)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2006... Are you a dog owner who's too lazy to towel-dry your pooch after its weekly bath? Then here's the invention for you--the Pet DW Room. Put Fluffy inside, close the door, and flip the switch, A heat lamp will give off just enough infrared...

Dog swallows boy's nose.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2006... BRNO, Czech Republic -- The dog didn't eat Anton Novak's homework. It ate his nose instead! Anton, 11, was out walking with his dad last November when a neighbor's German shepherd attacked Anton and bit off his nose. Anton's dad held the...

Night bites: the United States has a new immigration problem--bedbugs!(LIFE)
March 3, 2006... Critical Thinking * Name some other insects that consume human blood. (mosquitoes, fleas, lice, horseflies, sand flies) * Name some diseases that biting insects can transmit to people. (malaria from mosquitoes, Chagas' disease from...

Test flight: look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's ... a pterosaur?(LIFE/PHYSICAL)
March 3, 2006... Critical Thinking * What sorts of things might be hard to learn about a pterosaur from its fossilized remains? * What might have caused the extinction of the pterosaurs? National Science Education Standards * Motion and...

Dust buster: China is building a new Great Wall to hold back the country's fierce dust storms.
March 3, 2006... Critical Thinking * Describe an original solution for stopping dust storms in China. * Dust and sandstorms carry more than soil. Name some other things that dust storms might carry that could harm people. (pesticides, pollutants,...

Undue force? Taser stun guns are designed to be nonlethal, but critics say the guns have killed some people.
March 3, 2006... Critical Thinking * Should the police in your town use stun guns? Why or why not? * What might a "Danger" sign tell you about the voltage and the current carried by an electrical circuit? National Science Education Standards *...

Did skyscraper trigger tremors?(Earth)
March 3, 2006... TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The architects of Taipei 101, the world's tallest building, designed it to withstand earthquakes. But now a local geologist says the building may be responsible for the recent uptick in quake activity that has shaken the...

Is Alzheimer's 'type 3' diabetes?(Health)
March 3, 2006... PROVIDENCE, R.I.-- A team of medical researchers has made a startling series of discoveries suggesting that Alzheimer's disease may be a form of diabetes. Alzheimer's is a condition that usually occurs in late middle age and old age and that is...

Aussies rescue giant worms.(Too Weird)(The giant Gippsland earthworm )(Protection and preservation of Megascolides australis)
March 3, 2006... KORUMBURRA, Australia -- Australia is famous for its odd animals--koalas, platypuses, cassowaries, and potoroos, to name a few. Bur one of its oddest, the giant Gippsland earthworm, is rarely mentioned or even seen. Last fall, a small group of...

'Snow-asis' blooms in desert.(Ski Dubai a artificial ski hill )(Brief Article)
March 3, 2006... DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The desert country of the United Arab Emirates IUAE) is one of the hottest, driest places in the world. Temperatures in December hovered in the 80s under a blistering sun Bur that didn't keep snow from falling on...

What is self-esteem and how can I get it?(Ask Professor Ossolotch)
March 3, 2006... Sherrie Burns San Diego, Calif. Dear Sherrie, You've already got it. Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. If you feel good about yourself, you have high self-esteem; if you don't feel good about yourself, you have low...

In sight.(nanocar, molecule size car)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2006... Last fall, scientists at Rice University in Houston unveiled the world's smallest car--a vehicle so small that it can't be seen. Made from just one molecule, the "nanocar" was built to do work in nanotechnology, the newly emerging field of...

Mystery photos.(Optricks)
March 3, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Answers Top: sidewalk chalk Middle: vermiculite Bottom: corkboard

Bend your mind.(Optricks)
March 3, 2006... Which figure is different from the others? The answers are in the Teacher's Guide. Answer C

What iz it?(Optricks)
March 3, 2006... You can't live without this white fatty substance. It's essential for the production of vitamin D and many hormones. But too much of it in your bloodstream can increase your risk of heart disease. Answer: cholesterol

Sci-triv game.
March 17, 2006... Want to play a game of science trivia? See how many points you can win by correctly answering the questions below. To find your score, give yourself 10 points each time you get the first question right, 20 points for each second question, and...

Taipei, Taiwan--scientists at National Taiwan University have bioengineered three little pigs so that they glow in the dark.(Who Knew?)
March 17, 2006... TAIPEI, Taiwan--Scientists at National Taiwan University have bioengineered three little pigs so that they glow in the dark. The scientists transplanted a gene from a fluorescent jellyfish into the porkers. Fluorescence is a process in which...

Stevenage, England--Sandra Battye's pet budgie, Spike, likes to sit on her shoulder and watch her do cross-stitch (a type of needlework) for hours on end.(Who Knew?)
March 17, 2006... STEVENAGE, England--Sandra Battye's pet budgie, Spike, likes to sit on her shoulder and watch her do cross-stitch (a type of needlework) for hours on end. One day, Battye put down her needles to rest her hands. "It seemed to frustrate Spike,"...

Wizard of odds: wizard or muggle--could the chances of becoming one lie in a person's genes?(LIFE)(Cover Story)
March 17, 2006... HARRY POTTER'S WORLD, wizards are born, not made. Just look at Harry. He was raised from infancy by two muggles (normal, magic-less people), Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia Dursley. They couldn't pull a rabbit from a hat, let alone use a Cheering...

Green machine: will a hand-cranked laptop open new windows on the world for kids in poor countries?(PHYSICAL)
March 17, 2006... THE PRICE of a laptop computer is about to take a big plunge. A typical laptop now costs about $1,200. But engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are designing a small laptop that will sell for just $100. Last fall,...

Deep heat: undersea explorers discover bumper crops of hydrothermal vents on the oceans' floors.(EARTH)
March 17, 2006... Last July, the Norwegian research ship G.O. Sars was cruising the Arctic Ocean a few hundred kilometers north of Iceland. Below the ship, tethered like a dog on a leash, a robotic submarine scanned the ocean floor. As Oregon State University...

Touch & go: a 19-year-old car accident victim receives a rare nerve transplant from his mother.(Nick Anderson)
March 17, 2006... Nick Anderson, a 19-year-old race car driver, was driving along a country road late one night in December 2004. As he rounded a bend, Nick encountered a car speeding toward him in his lane. Nick swerved to avoid the car and crashed into a...

Japan vs. giant jellies.(Life)
March 17, 2006... HIROSHIMA, Japan--After surviving numerous battles with Godzilla, Japan is now confronting a new foe: giant jellyfish. Japanese fishery officials are so up in arms about the creature that they recently met with counterparts from China and South...

Dad and daughter blast off.(Tim Pickens, Sarah)
March 17, 2006... MADISON, Ala.--Tim Pickens is the president of Orion Propulsion, a company that designs and makes rocket engines. Pickens may never rocket into space on one of his creations so he did the next best thing: He rocketed down the road. He and...

California cubers take titles.(Rubic cube)
March 17, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO--Fifteen-year-old Shotaro Makisumi of Pasadena, Calif., twisted his brain and wrists fast enough to become the world's top speedcuber in January. Makisumi solved a Rubik's Cube faster than any other contestant at this year's...

Harry Potter cuts ER visits.(emergency room)
March 17, 2006... OXFORD, England--Harry Potter has vanquished everything from dragons to giant spiders. Now the boy wizard is defeating childhood injuries. Doctors at John Radcliffe Hospital surveyed the number of children ages 7 to 15 admitted to its...

Earthlike planet sighted.(Space)
March 17, 2006... PARIS--An international team of astronomers has caught a glimpse of the most Earthlike planet yet to be spotted outside our solar system. Most of the 160 or so extrasolar planets found so far have been gas giants, like Jupiter. But the...

DNA unlocks key to Athens' downfall.(Health)
March 17, 2006... ATHENS, Greece--For centuries, doctors and historians have puzzled over the identity of the plague that ravaged ancient Athens. Now DNA taken from skeletons found in a mass graves indicate that the disease was typhoid fever. The fifth...

Insight.(robotic carp)
March 17, 2006... The London Aquarium is where you'll find this battery-run, 50-centimeter (20-inch) robotic carp Besides entertaining visitors, it functions as a model for future Underwater vehicles. It has infrared (thermal) sensors that enable it to detect...

Mystery photos.(Optricks)
March 17, 2006... Top: Popsicle sticks Middle: a cat's claw Bottom: a brick wall [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Bend your mind.(Optricks)
March 17, 2006... Where is the missing slice of cake? Turn the page upside down, and you'll find the missing piece of cake on the plate.

Whatizit?(polar bear)
March 17, 2006... These might look like wet rolls of paper towel, but they are really structures on the species Ursus maritimus. The hollow area contains air, which is not a good conductor of heat and helps insulate U. maritimus against the cold. What are these...

Discoveries.
March 17, 2006... Fill in the Blanks Find the word or words that best complete each sentence. Write the words in the blank spaces. 1.--muscles surround and move bones. 2. An--is an agent that supplies oxygen to fuel to help it burn. 3....