Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from May 2008

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from May 2008

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science!
May 2, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 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 a first-row question right, 20 points...

Who knew?(Brief article)
May 2, 2008... WHINMOOR, England -- Eighteen-year-old Laura Moon has pledged to donate two of her kidneys to patients in need of transplants. She can spare them because she has four kidneys--two more than normal. Laura learned she had "duplex kidneys"...

Flipping out: a brother and sister take juggling to the limit.(PHYSICAL)(Cover story)
May 2, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I can't juggle--not even three lousy balls--and to be honest, it never bothered me much. I thought juggling was just a silly circus act, like sword swallowing or breathing fire. Then I met Vova and Olga Galchenko....

Perfect fit: doctors learn how to transplant organs without the worries of rejection.(HEALTH)
May 2, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Demi-Lee Brennan isn't the girl she used to be. After receiving a new liver several years ago, her body underwent an astonishing transformation. Her blood type and her immune cells changed to match those of her liver...

Spin control: can artificial tornadoes deliver alternative energy?(EARTH)
May 2, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] More than 50 tornadoes ripped through seven U.S. states the night of February 5 this year. The twisters gutted a shopping mall, crushed two college dormitories, ignited an inferno at a natural gas pumping station,...

Cane toads menace crocs.(up date)
May 2, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BULLO RIVER STATION, Australia -- In issue 10, Current Science reported on an outbreak of arthritis among Australia's obnoxious cane toads. The toads are moving so fast across the northern landscape that many of them...

Peanut paste treats malnutrition.(health)(Brief article)
May 2, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NIGER -- What happens when you mix ground peanuts, powdered milk, vegetable oil, and sugar, and then throw in some vitamins and minerals? You get Plumpy'nut, a sweet treat that kids love. More than that, you get a...

Ask professor Ossolotch.
May 2, 2008... Is teleportation possible? Zeon Nguyen, Bronx, N.Y. Dear Zeon, No and yes. My "no" answer applies to the kind of teleportation of matter depicted in the recent movie Jumper. If you saw it, you know that certain characters--the...

Artist Richard Box planted 1,301 fluorescent lightbulbs upright in a farmer's field under a high-voltage power line in England.(insight)(Brief article)(Photograph)
May 2, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Artist Richard Box planted 1,301 fluorescent lightbulbs pright in a farmer's field under a high-voltage power line in England. The overhealed wires generated an electric field in the air that was strong...

Has Earth entered a new age?(earth)
May 2, 2008... LONDON -- Consult your earth science textbook, and you'll find that Earth is currently in the Holocene epoch. The Holocene is a period of geohistory that began about 11,800 years ago with climate changes that coincided with the end of the most...

How Coltrane hit the heights.(life)(John Coltrane )
May 2, 2008... SYDNEY, Australia -- If you've ever heard a recording by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane (1926-1967), you might have been wowed by his flights into the sonic stratosphere. Coltrane hit notes far above the saxophone's normal range. How he...

Bend your mind.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science)(Brief article)
May 2, 2008... Look carefully at this checkerboard. Square A and square B are related in a way that isn't obvious to the eyes. (Hint: The relationship becomes more apparent when you look at the squares in isolation.) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Mystery photos.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science)(Brief article)
May 2, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Mystery Photos from top Deanna Frederick/Cedar Grove Belgium Middle School, Cedar Grove, Wis; Briana Weyker/Cedar Grove Belgium Middle School, Cedar Grove, Wis (2); Bend Your Mind: Edward H. Adelson/MIT; Background:...

And the winners are ...(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science)(Brief article)
May 2, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Congratulations to the winners of Current Science's Mystery Photo Contest. They are (from left to right) Eric Dunn, Deanna Frederick, Maria Schueller, and Briana Weyker, students in Maureen Mersberger's seventh-grade...