Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from November 2005

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from November 2005

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science!
November 4, 2005... 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 quest8ion right, 20 points for each second...

Who knew?(about Sam, World's Ugliest Dog)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2005... SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- It may be a blessing for Sam the dog that he has cataracts in both eyes and can't see himself in a mirror. Sam has snaggleteeth, wrinkly skin, warts on his nose, a wattle on his neck, and virtually no hair--a mug that...

Up in the air: the uncertain fate of helium gas.(Cover Story)
November 4, 2005... If you ever find yourself passing through Amarillo, Texas, don't miss the Helium Monument. It's an educational experience. The spherical parts of the gleaming stainless-steel sculpture represent the atomic structure of helium. Amarillo...

Exposed: a teenage medical "psychic" says she can diagnose diseases with X-ray vision. Investigators put her claims to the test.(LIFE)
November 4, 2005... YOU probably haven't heard of Natasha Demkina, but she is a celebrity in her native country, Russia. The 18-year-old claims to be a psychic who can "see" into the human body and diagnose diseases. Natasha is 100 percent accurate, says her...

Sparks from space: do lightning bolts get their start in outer space?
November 4, 2005... Earth's atmosphere crackles with electricity. An estimated 2,000 thunderstorms rage at any given moment, generating about 100 lightning flashes each second. That adds up to 360,000 flashes an hour, or 8,640,000 flashes a day. For a...

Hallets' comet: one lucky dog got a state-of-the-art stem cell transplant to treat his cancer.
November 4, 2005... Comet, the golden retriever, is a medical pioneer. Two years ago he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. But thanks to a treatment that's used primarily on people, Comet is still alive and thriving. The treatment was a stem-cell transplant....

Puzzle fad sweeps globe.(Sudoku)
November 4, 2005... LONDON -- First there was Nintendo. Then came Pokemon. Now get ready for Sudoku, the latest craze from Japan. Sudoku (pronounced soo-DOH-koo) is a number puzzle, a sort of crossword puzzle without words. It is laid out in a grid of 81...

Insight.(Toyota Pod)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2005... This is the Pod, a concept car built by Toyota. The Pod is a mood ring on wheels. Its front lights express emotion by changing color. The lights turn orange to register happiness when the owner approaches. They turn dark blue for sadness when...

Marsupial was Captain Crunch.(Thylacoleo carnifex, the extinct marsupial lion with the strongest bite among mammals)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2005... SYDNEY, Australia -- You'd freak, wouldn't you, if you came face-to-face with a lion or a tiger? But those modern-day cats are mere kitties compared with the extinct marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex). A new study has found that T. carnifex...

Wind power cooks burgers.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2005... VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Burgerville, a West Coast fast-food chain, prides itself on buying fresh meat and produce from local farms. Now it is also buying electricity from farms--wind farms. Burgerville's sister restaurant chain, Noodlin', has...

Middle Earth spins.(Earth's core)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2005... URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill.-U.S. scientists have found that Earth's inner core rotates just as the planet does but at a slightly faster rate. It superrotates. Every 900 years, the inner core makes one more rotation than Earth does, says Xiaodong...

Doctors debunk alternative therapy.(Health)(Brief Article)
November 4, 2005... BERN, Switzerland -- A major study of a popular type of alternative medicine has concluded that it offers no real health benefits. Swiss and British researchers surveyed 110 trials of homeopathy, a type of therapy first developed 200 years...

Bend your mind.(maximum exercise for the dog)
November 4, 2005... Joe takes his dog Chips for a walk every day. Along the way, Joe exercises Chips by having him catch a Frisbee. In what direction should Joe throw the Frisbee to make Chips run as far as possible to get the maximum amount of exercise? ...

Whatizit?(pollen grains)
November 4, 2005... This sphere may look like a tennis ball but it's much too small to be batted around on a tennis court. It was produced by an anther and contains gametes that may one day fuse with an Ovule. What is it? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] answer...

Sci-triv game.
November 18, 2005... have fun leaning 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...

Think pieces.(mathematical puzzles)
November 18, 2005... Arrange six coins in the shape of a cross. Now move just one of the coins to form two rows that have four coins in each row. What is unusual about the number 142,857? (Hint: Multiply it by the numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and compare the five...

What the Devil? What terrible scourge is wisping out the Tasmanian Devil?(Cover Story)
November 18, 2005... Most people know the Tasmanian devil from the Looney Tunes character Taz, the boisterous bigmouth that harasses Bugs Bunny and spins like a tornado. Alas, the real-life Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is not faring so well. In 1990, an...

Into thin air: inventor Hokan Colting is riding high in a new generation of blimps.(21st Century Airships)
November 18, 2005... SIX POLICE CARS once greeted inventor Hokan Colting when he touched down at an airport in one of his first giant airships. Local residents who had spotted the round, ghostly white craft mistook it for a UFO and alerted the authorities. To...

Benji's world: teenagers with autism, like Benji Garbowit, are different--and that's all the more reason to get to know them.
November 18, 2005... When 15-year-old Benjamin Garbowit meets you for the first time, he may pepper you with interesting questions, but might not look you in the eye. Ask him a question and he may pause a long time before answering. When he does speak, his tone may...

Oregon is bulging.(volcanic eruptions due)(Brief Article)
November 18, 2005... BEND, Ore.--A mysterious swelling that covers 260 square kilometers (100 square miles) of land has appeared near this city in eastern Oregon. Could Earth be giving birth to a new volcano in a state that already has four of the 18 most active...

Epidemic grips West Africa.(Cholera)(Brief Article)
November 18, 2005... DAKAR, Senegal--An epidemic of cholera has sickened more than 30,000 people and killed more than 500 since June in countries in West Africa, according to the United Nations. Cholera is a disease of the gastrointestinal (digestive) tract...

Is there water on Mars?
November 18, 2005... Tyshid Smart-El Lexington, Ohio Dear Tyshid, That's one of the hottest questions in science today. Mars definitely has water in the form of water ice, which exists at the planet's north and south poles. In February, the European Space...

Worm drives grasshopper to suicide.(Brief Article)
November 18, 2005... MONTPELLIER, France--In a bizarre variation of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, tiny worms have been observed invading the bodies of grasshoppers and turning them into suicidal zombies. Scientists at the French National Center for Scientific...

South African students win prize.(Brief Article)
November 18, 2005... BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa--Three South African students have won this year's Stockholm Junior Water Prize. The prize is awarded to high school students who have conducted outstanding water-related research on a topic of scientific,...

Teen harnesses rodent power.(Too Weird)(Brief Article)
November 18, 2005... LAWFORD, England-Elvis the hamster works out for hours on his exercise wheel every night. His incessant spinning drives his owner, Sarah Ash, batty, but it also inspired her teenage brother, Peter, to discover a new source of renewable energy....

Mystery photos.(Optricks)
November 18, 2005... Mystery Photos Top: staples in a telephone pole Middle: bread Bottom: stacks of staples

Bend your mind.(egg or the chicken mystery)
November 18, 2005... Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Mindbender: The egg came first. Reptiles existed long before birds evolved. Reptiles lay eggs, so the egg came before the chicken.

Whatizit.(questions and answers)
November 18, 2005... This might look like a crowbar ripping into an asbestos blanket, nut it isn't. You'd use this small device to hold things together, not tear things apart. Whatizit? a staple in a piece of paper Sci-Triv Game (Page 2) Answers....