Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from November 2006

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from November 2006

Discoveries.
November 3, 2006... Fill in the Blanks Write the word or words that best complete each sentence. 1. Honeybees carry -- in honey sacs. 2. A person from Bulgaria will most likely have -- earwax 3. Scientists have linked the increase in forest fires...

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science!
November 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 second question,...

Animal spots.(pigs are having a competition at Moscow, Russia)(kangaroo gets an artificial limb)(Baboons steale the flags of motorists)
November 3, 2006... The Paradise Pet Club, a restaurant in Shanghai, China, lets pet owners eat at the same tables as their cats, dogs, and hamsters. An Italian motorist had his car checked for an annoying squeak after a 1,450-kilometer (900-mile) trip in...

Sensitive tooth: the narwhal's tusk is one whale of a tooth, but what is it used for?
November 3, 2006... The single, 9-foot-long tusk of the narwhal, an Arctic whale, has been an enduring mystery. In medieval times, people guessed it was the horn of the fabled unicorn. Today, scientists wonder what it's for. Does the narwhal use it to break the...

Survivor: Jeanna Giese is the only unvaccinated person to ever survive rabies. How did her doctors save her life?
November 3, 2006... Jeanna Giese was attending church in Fond du Lac, Wis., two years ago when she spotted a small bat lying on the floor. As she picked it up to take it outdoors, it bit her finger, leaving a small mark. The incident was forgotten until five weeks...

Community service: students use their science smarts to compete for a chance to help their communities.(Ashley LaRose wins scholarship for Auto-MAT-ic mat)
November 3, 2006... Several years ago, Ashley LaRose's grandmother had to get out of bed one night. Unable to reach the bedside lamp, she got up in the dark, accidentally tripped, and broke her hip. Though the broken hip was a hardship for Ashley's grandmother...

Acid test: rising C[O.sub.2] content in the air is acidifying the oceans. What will that do to marine life?
November 3, 2006... Earth has endured many mass extinctions in its history. The dinosaurs were the victims of the most notorious one, 65 million years ago. But 10 million years later, another die-off cut a swath through the oceans. Most scientists blame the...

Warmer temps fuel more fires.( wildfires increase in numbers)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- Last year was the second-hottest year on record. It was also the worst year for wildfires in the United States, with 8.53 million acres going up in flames. Now a study has drawn a link between rising temperatures and the increasing...

Dark matter found.(Douglas Clowe )
November 3, 2006... TUCSON, Ariz. -- A huge cosmic crack-up has provided the best evidence yet for the existence of dark matter. Dark matter is a form of matter that no one has ever seen. It is undetectable because it emits no radiation--no visible light, no radio...

Why do we have earwax?(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Terry Miller, East Greenbush, N.Y. Dear Terry, Earwax, which doctors call cerumen, is secreted by tiny glands in the ear canal. It protects the ear against some fungi and bacteria. It also traps dirt, dust, and insects. Earwax moves...

Teen's bee research wins award.(Sheela Krishnan does research on American foulbrood )(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... SUFFERN, N.Y.--Three years ago, Sheela Krishnan was accepted into a special science and technology program at her high school. Shortly after, while visiting her grandfather in India, she asked him what she should choose to study in the program....

Body movements generate electricity.(wire made of zinc oxide produces piezoelectricity)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... ATLANTA -- Imagine harnessing all the energy you burn as you walk, lift, and push your way through each day. A scientist has designed a device that he hopes will do just that. The device is a tiny wire made of zinc oxide (ZnO), a...

Mystery photos.(Optricks)
November 3, 2006... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Top: doormat Middle: Styrofoam ice chest Bottom: computer circuit board

Bend your mind.(Optricks)
November 3, 2006... Which one of the shapes below can be made with the pieces above? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bend Your Mind: B

Whatizit?.(Loasa xylopodia)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] These are hairs, but not the kind that grow on your head. When you touch them, they secrete a substance that causes an intense burning sensation. They grow on the Loasa xylopodia. What kind of organism might that be,...

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science!
November 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,...

Who knew?(Kosik could mimic his master)(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... SEOUL, South Korea -- Kim Jong-gap did a double-take when someone spoke to him in the elephant house at the Everland amusement park. The words had come from Kosik, a 16-year-old Asian elephant. "It was hard to believe myself at first," says...

Green giant: a dazzling new office tower leaves an eco-friendly footprint on New York City.(Hearst Towers at Midtown Manhattan )
November 17, 2006... Midtown Manhattan in New York City has a serious business attitude, reflected in the straight up-and-down lines of its skyscrapers. Just south of Central Park, however, a new office building has edges that don't shoot straight--they undulate....

The invaders: gators, pythons, and Nile lizards--oh, my! What is happening in the wilds of Florida?
November 17, 2006... Critical Thinking * Which invasive species (plants, animals) exist in your area? What effects have they had on the local ecosystem? * What laws does your state have against owning foreign animals or releasing foreign animals into the...

Ready to rock: a big earthquake is overdue for Southern California.
November 17, 2006... Critical Thinking * Should the state of California forbid further settlement near the San Andreas Fault because of the impending danger of a major earthquake there? Discuss. * Where is the nearest fault in your area? National...

Special delivery: a Baltimore teen helps scientists find a better way to treat tuberculosis.(Britni Lonesome)
November 17, 2006... Critical Thinking * What other innovations might Britni Lonesome make to the implantable disk? * What other diseases might an implantable disk be used to treat? National Science Education Standards * Personal and community...

African emergency.( tuberculosis)
November 17, 2006... Here are some statistics that may surprise you: Each year, 8 million to 10 million people become sick with tuberculosis. About 2 million die from it. TB is second only to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) among the world's deadliest...

Jaws crack speed limit.(trap-jaw ant )
November 17, 2006... BERKELEY, Calif. -- Using a high-speed camera, a U.S. scientist has filmed a new speed record. The scientist clocked tiny trap-jaw ants biting faster than any other animal on Earth. A resident of Central and South America, the trap-jaw ant...

Plane flies on hydrogen.(designed by Georgia Institute of Technology )(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... ATLANTA -- An unpiloted aircraft has flown on the power needed to illuminate just five lightbulbs. The power came from a source that some scientists tout as the fuel of tomorrow: hydrogen. Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology...

Gadget grows teeth.(ultrasound )(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... EDMONTON, Alberta -- This city is home to the Oilers and is a big hockey town. So it comes as no surprise that researchers here have found a remarkable way to fix the curse of hockey players everywhere--broken teeth. One of the...

Did earth fall over?(Adam Maloof finds out)(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... PRINCETON, N.J. -- Imagine taking a trip to the tropics without traveling an inch. A Princeton University researcher has dug up evidence that Earth fell over long ago, carrying places as far north as present-day Alaska all the way to the...

Cell biology inspires architect.(Sloan Kulper conceived a building shaped like a living cell)(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... CHENGDU, China -- Biologists have long admired the architecture of living cells. Now a young architect has incorporated the structural elements of cells into the design for a new building (illustrated below). The architect, Sloan Kulper,...

What iz it?(cellulose)
November 17, 2006... This isn't a serving of pasta. It's cellulose fibers, photographed in extreme close-up. Cellulose is the main component of cell walls in plants. These cellulose fibers are the strands of a picker-upper found in most homes. What might it be? ...

Bend your mind.
November 17, 2006... Which came first, the chicken or the egg? (Hint: The solution is logical--paleontological.) Answer: The egg came first. Reptiles lay eggs and preceded the chicken on the evolutionary scale. The chicken is a bird, and most...

Mystery photos.
November 17, 2006... Mystery Photos: Cy Furlan (3); Whatizit?: Scimat/Photo Researchers, Inc.; Bend Your Mind; Rubberball/Getty Images Answer: Top: birthday cake candles; Middle: top of a can of grated cheese; Bottom: chains

Stranger than friction.
November 17, 2006... The feature "Ready to Rock" on page 8 explains the role that friction, the force that opposes motion, plays in earthquakes. Where two tectonic plates meet at a transform boundary, they don't always slide smoothly past each other. At some points...

Weekly Reader Corporation and the National Middle Level Science Teachers Association present The Vincent J. Marteka Jr. Award for Creative Science Teaching.
November 17, 2006... The Vincent J. Marteka Jr. Award for Creative Science Teaching, sponsored by Weekly Reader Corporation, publishers of Current Science, is presented annually at the National Science Teachers Association National Convention during the Middle...