Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from November 2008

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from November 2008

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science!
November 14, 2008... Want to play a game of science trivia? See how many points you can win by correctly answering the questions below. To find you score, give yourself 10 points each time you get a first-row question right, 20 points for each second-row question,...

Animal spots.(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... CARDIFF, Wales -- Three years ago, David Palmer; his partner Caroline Clements; and their teenage son, Nathan, were visiting a nature preserve when they heard a quiet bleating among the tall grass. They investigated and found a sick lamb....

Hard roll: freestyle motocross injuries are on the rise.(HEALTH)
November 14, 2008... Huge mounds of dirt marked a fenced-in area just outside a Baltimore stadium. A large crowd watched the top of one mound as if it might explode any moment. Suddenly, from behind the mound, Nate Adams soared into view on his dirt bike....

Our germs, ourselves: scientists wade into the universe of micro-life that populates the human body.
November 14, 2008... Did you think you were living through a real-life version of the old B-movie Attack of the Killer Tomatoes earlier this year? A wave of panic swept the country in the spring as medical detectives tracked down tainted tomatoes suspected of...

Model behavior: a huge indoor pool helps scientists safely study killer waves.
November 14, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The wave looks mild at first, wide with a gentle slope. Approaching the coast, however, it grows higher and starts to curl at the top. Reaching shore, it crashes and foams as it races over the beach. The next instant...

Starstruck: where did the elements in our bodies come from?
November 14, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It finally happened in my house. The Dreaded Question: "Where do babies come from?" After some stuttering and blushing, I decided to tell my son the truth about his newborn sister: She's a child of the universe. So...

Lost world of apes found.(life)
November 14, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO -- "Hey, everybody," the young gorilla pictured above might be saying. "Have you heard the good news?" In August, scientists who work for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced...

Giant planets contain liquid metals.(space)
November 14, 2008... BERKELEY, Calif. -- On Earth, helium is a lightweight, invisible gas. But inside Jupiter and Saturn, it takes on a very different form, according to a new study. The fantastic temperatures and pressures inside the giant planets transform helium...

Invisibility cloak in view?(physical)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... BERKELEY, Calif. -- The adventures of Harry Potter may one day be reclassified as nonfiction. Researchers at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, have invented materials with the potential to act like Harry's invisibility cloak and make...

Sit back and shape up?(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LA JOLLA, Calif. -- U.S. researchers have found a drug that builds muscle without any physical activity. They call it "exercise in a pill." The researchers work at the Salk Institute, in Southern California....

Don't be deceived by this beautiful fish. It's a killer.(lionfish)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Don't be deceived by this beautiful fish. It's a killer. A native of the Pacific Ocean, the lionfish was introduced to the waters off Florida in the 1990s. It has since spread throughout the Caribbean Sea, preying on...

Jet pack lifts off.(technology)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... OSHKOSH, Wis. -- Does Harrison Martin have the coolest father in the world? Even though Harrison was too young (15) to even drive a car, his dad let him test pilot the family jet pack last year. For years, the Martins had kept the jet pack...

Mystery photos.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science)
November 14, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] FEATURES PLUS Answer Top: toilet bowl handle Middle: bill of a baseball cap Bottom: cantaloupe

Bend your mind.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... Move one digit to a new position so that the equation below is correct. (Moving the signs is not allowed.) 62 - 63 = 1 FEATURES PLUS Answer [2.sup.6] - 63 = 1

Whatizit?(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is a close-up of the underside of an ohia lehua leaf. The ohia lehua is Hawaii's most abundant native tree. Its red flower is the official flower of Hawaii's big island. What might the yellow structures on the...

Disappearing penny.(HANDS-ON ACTIVITY)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... One of the Discoveries in this issue describes a new type of material (called a metamaterial) that one day might make Harry Potter's fictional invisibility cloak a reality. But why wait? you can use the same underlying principle--refraction,...

Have fun learning about science!(SCI-TRIV GAME)
November 28, 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)
November 28, 2008... KRISTIANSTAD, Sweden -- The first earthling to visit Mars might not be a human. It might be a bear. European scientists recently launched a group of water bears into Earth orbit and exposed them to the brutal conditions of outer space....

War torn: veterans and their families are coping with the lingering trauma of Iraq and Afghanistan.(HEALTH)(Cover story)
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chuck Luther woke up in a cold sweat. Nightmares again. The former Army sergeant was home in Killeen, Texas. But in his dreams, he was still in Iraq, where he had led an elite unit that battled insurgents. Two...

Wrongs & rights: should apes be given legal protection?(LIFE)
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] At a retirement home in Palm Springs, Calif., an aging former actor entertains himself by painting abstract artwork and watching videos of his old films. The 76-year-old also likes to sit by the pool, snacking on...

What lies beneath: does a climate disaster lurk under the Arctic?(EARTH)
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Is a sudden and catastrophic climate change in store for Earth? That's the sobering question raised recently in a report by an international team of scientists. The team, headed by U.S. geologist Martin Kennedy,...

Hyper active: what makes Wayne Gerdes the country's most fuel-efficient driver?(PHYSICAL)
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Is it possible to win a road race driving just 55 miles per hour (mph)? Wayne Gerdes did last spring, in three categories, at the World Fuel Economy Championship in Elkhart, Ind. Gerdes is a "hypermiler." He...

Proton collider rap is YouTube smash.(physical)(Brief article)
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] GENEVA -- Some people complain about violence in rap music. That hasn't stopped Kate McAlpine (a.k.a. alpinekat) from rapping about humongous explosions and shattering collisions, though. McAlpine, a graduate of...

What you sea is not what you get.(life)(Brief article)
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NEW YORK -- If you knew sushi like Kate Stoeckle and Louisa Strauss know sushi, you could be in for a surprise. Using DNA fingerprinting, the two teenage girls found that seafood had been mislabeled in four...

The explosive growth of algae in Chaohu Lake in China has turned its waters green.(insight)(Brief article)
November 28, 2008... The explosive growth of algae in Chaohu Lake in China has turned its waters green. The lake is a victim of eutrophication-the excessive growth of aquatic organisms in a body of water containing too many nutrients. The algae thrive on the tons...

Poop sleuths rewrite history.(earth)
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PAISLEY CAVES, Ore. -- You might turn up your nose at the evidence. Still, it's shaking up the way scientists think about the prehistory of North America. Six years ago, Dennis Jenkins was leading an excavation...

Mini cow has big appeal.(too weird)(Dexter cow)(Brief article)
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LOUISBURG, N.C. -- Is your family struggling with high food prices? Current Science has a solution: Get a Dexter cow. Once an endangered species, the Dexter cow is as popular today as the Chihuahua that Paris...

Teen allergic to water.(health)(Brief article)
November 28, 2008... MELBOURNE, Australia -- Five years ago, Ashleigh Morris came down with tonsillitis. A heavy dose of the antibiotic penicillin cleared up the infection but left her with a worse affliction. Morris, who enjoyed hanging out at the beach,...

Mystery photos.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science[R])
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Top: crayon Middle: tape dispenser Bottom: pencil shavings

Bend your mind.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science[R])(Brief article)
November 28, 2008... Keep your eye on this drawing while you rotate the page. What do you see? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As you move the page, you should see a series of spirals moving up and down in 3-D.

Whatizit?(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science[R])(Brief article)
November 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Some insects lay eggs and then stick them together to form "egg rafts" that float on still or stagnant water. This photo shows a raft in which larvae are hatching from the tips of the eggs. What might these insects...

Climate cooker.
November 28, 2008... The article "What Lies Beneath" describes the drastic impact an increase in atmospheric methane could have on the planet. Methane is a greenhouse gas, a gas that contributes to the warming of the planet via the greenhouse effect. What's the...