Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from May 2001

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from May 2001

LITTLE GULP.(Illustration)
May 11, 2001... The little rainbow trout fingerling peeking out from the gullet of a northern pike will shortly be history. In Alaska, where this photo was taken, transplanted northern pike are threatening the local trout population. Mindstretch: How might...

Laser Cut.(Illustration)
May 11, 2001... This test vehicle isn't a car; it's the Zero, a lawn mower that cuts grass with laser light. The laser slices grass into clippings so fine, they decompose quickly into nutrients that refresh the soil. Mindstretch: In what other ways might...

This Year's Mystery Photo Winner Is ...
May 11, 2001... ... Nick Mader, an eighth-grade student at Blessed Sacrament ,School in Fort Mitchell, Ky. During the 2000-2001 school year, Current Science featured more mystery photos taken by Nick, pictured above, than by any other student. Nick, who is 14...

Big Air.(Skateboarding science)
May 11, 2001... Skateboarding isn't just a sport--it's a science Two years ago, in Las Vegas, veteran skateboarder Danny Way (above) pulled the ultimate skateboarding stunt. The feat involved a 5.5-meter-tall (18-foot) "vert ramp," a ramp so steep that...

Close Encounter.(NEAR Shoemaker asteroid probe)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2001... A robot space probe uncovers some secrets of the asteroid belt. Headlines shouted the news February 12 that a U.S. spacecraft had touched down on a small space rock located 315 million kilometers (196 million miles) from Earth. ...

Outta Sight.(contact lens science)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2001... Colored contact lenses may look cool, but buying them over the Net or sharing them with friends can endanger eyesight. Josh Evans, a 16-year-old high school student in New York City, wants a pair of colored contact lenses like those that...

Frozen Toddler Recovers.(Erika Nordby)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2001... EDMONTON, Alberta.... Wearing only a diaper and a pink dress, 13-month-old Erika Nordby wandered outdoors into the bitter cold late one night in February. Hours later, Erika's mom, Leyla, found her lying in the snow. frozen stiff. By the...

Quake Makes Art.(pendulum seismograph)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2001... PORT TOWNSEND, Wash.--The earthquake that rattled Seattle and other parts of the Pacific Northwest on February 28 damaged buildings and fractured sidewalks. It also created a delicate work of sand art. A Port Townsend charm shop called Mind...

What's the Right Way to Watch Movies?(audience behavior)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2001... SOFIA, Bulgaria--When you go to the movies, which side of the theater do you prefer to sit in? The right side--right? That's what George Karev, a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, discovered when he asked 870 moviegoers where the...

Too Weird.(wind power from the jetstream)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2001... Wind farms, which produce electricity through wind power, already blanket the countryside in many parts of the world. Now, an engineer at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) in Australia wants to put a wind farm high in the sky, where it...

ASK PROFESSOR OSSOLOTCH.(lightning bugs; fireflies)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2001... How do lightning bugs produce light? -- Barbara Urner's Class Royersford, Pa. My wife, Ursula, and I enjoy stepping out into the backyard on a summer night and looking at lightning bugs flickering in the air like fairies. We call...

the sci-triv game.
May 11, 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,...

Optricks.
May 11, 2001... MYSTERY PHOTOS [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Answers Top: drying tobacco leaves hanging from a roof Middle: pineapple Bottom: sponges BEND YOUR MIND Both cog A and cog D have 60 teeth. Cog B has 30 teeth. Cog C has I0...

Vince Marteka Award Announced.(Bob Saunders of Ida Grove, Iowa, science teacher)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2001... The fourth Vincent J. Marteka Jr. Award for Creative Science Teaching, which is administered by the National Middle Level Science Teachers' Association and sponsored by Weekly Reader Corporation, publishers of Current Science, was awarded in...

Department of Corrections.(earthworms; Current Science, May 11, 2001)(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
May 11, 2001... In the Sci Triv Game that appeared in the Dec. 1, 2000, issue, one of the True-or-False questions said: "Earthworms come out during a rainstorm to keep from drowning in their holes." We said the statement is true. Yvonne Elbe, a high school...