Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from October 2007

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from October 2007

Sci-doku trivia game: have fun learning about science!(test)(Table)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sci-doku is Current Science's version of sudoku, the popular number puzzle from Japan. Sci-doku is easy to play. The goal is to find the numerals that go in the 25 squares in the grid so that all rows and columns...

Who knew?(mathematics quiz)(Brief article)
October 5, 2007... FORT WORTH, Texas -- Quick! Solve this math problem: On an exam, a student answered 15 of the first 20 questions correctly. Of the remaining questions, he answered one-third correctly. If the student answered 50 percent of all questions...

Crunch time: the urgent search for a cure for deadly peanut allergies.(HEALTH)
October 5, 2007... Critical Thinking * Name some other things that many people are allergic to. (bee stings, pollen, dust mites, pet dander) National Science Education Standards * Structure andfimction in living systems: immune system * Personal...

Old timer: a mysterious machine discovered in a shipwreck turns out to be an ancient computer.(PHYSICAL)(Antikythera mechanism)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Critical Thinking * Name some other mechanical devices that have gears. (automobile, bicycle, clock) National Science Education Standards * Transfer of energy. mechanical motion * Historical...

A mighty wind: Forrest Master's monster machine simulates the force of a hurricane.(EARTH/PHYSICAL)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Critical Thinking * What other uses might people have for the hurricane machine? National Science Education Standards * Natural hazards: hurricanes * Understandings about science and technology:...

Meet the beetles! A tiny insect is destroying the West's pine forests.(LIFE)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Critical Thinking * How might forest managers stop the mountain pine beetle from spreading? * Name some other insects that destroy trees. (emerald ash borer, gypsy moth, woolly adelgid) National...

Bamboo bikes on a roll.(technology)(Brief article)
October 5, 2007... SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Ten years ago, Craig Calfee noticed his dog, Luna, gnawing on a stalk of bamboo behind Calfee's shop. Calfee is one of the country's top bicycle builders. He has made racing bikes for Greg LeMond, the first American to win...

Did disease fuel feud?(health)(Von Hippel-Lindau disease )(Brief article)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] NASHVILLE -- Long before Paris Hilton fought with Nicole Richie and Rosie O'Donnell took on Donald Trump, there were the Hatfields and the McCoys. Their feud was one of the nastiest in U.S. history. Lasting from...

This is a photo of the mummified remains of one of 80 dogs found in a 1,000-year-old cemetery in Peru.(insight)(Photograph)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is a photo of the mummified remains of one of 80 dogs found in a 1,000-year-old cemetery in Peru. The dogs were buried in garments as fine as those put on sonie human corpses. The dogs received such special...

Curtain pulled back on shower puzzle.(physical)(effect of air pressure )(Brief article)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AMHERST, Mass. -- Have you ever stepped into a bathtub or a shower stall, turned on the spray, and found the shower curtain billowing inward, as if someone had opened a window and let a stiff breeze into the room?...

Exercise reverses aging.(life)(Brief article)
October 5, 2007... HAMILTON, Ontario -- Toss out the Botox. Cancel the face-lift. There's a simpler way to turn back time. Researchers in Canada and Sweden have found that physical exercise rejuvenates both body and mind. The Canadian scientists enrolled a...

Was comet a giant killer?(earth)(explanations of why big mammals got extinct)(Brief article)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BERKELEY, Calif. -- What happened to the plus-sized mammals that once inhabited North America is one of science's biggest riddles. During the last Ice Age, the continent was a land of giant sloths, giant beavers,...

Bend your mind.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science[R])(Image)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What is unusual about these wavy lines? (Hint: Use a ruler to find your answer.) The lines look wavy even though they are actually straight.

Whatizit.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science[R])(image of animal sensory apparatus)(Image)
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is a close-up view of an animal's sensory apparatus that is used to detect prey. It picks up scent particles from the air and then transfers the particles to an organ in the roof of the animal's mouth. What...

Mystery photos.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science[R])
October 5, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Answers Top: dandelion; Middle: batteries; Bottom: pencil shavings

Discoveries.(test )(Table)
October 5, 2007... Fill in the Blanks Find the word that best completes each sentence. Write the word in the blank. 1. The--gland releases cortisol and adrenaline. 2. The--people populated North America after the last Ice Age. 3. The...

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science.
October 19, 2007... Health Science Earth Science Mathematics 10 Points True or False True or False True or False Audition is the Amber is a mineral 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 sense of hearing. made...

Animal spots.(photographs)(Brief article)(Photograph)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PROSSER, Wash. -- A farmer was bitten by a rattlesnake whose head he had just cut off with a shovel. The bite was so severe, the man had to be hospitalized for two days. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DONGTING LAKE,...

The big drop: would you dare try the most extreme sport of all: skydiving from space?(PHYSICAL)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] You're sitting in a chair on the open deck of a small rocket, 96 kilometers above Earth. "Space Diver One, you are go!" crackles a voice in your ear. You undo your harness, breathe deeply, and leap, somersaulting...

Buried secret: what built Antarctica's hidden mountain range?(EARTH)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Smack dab in the middle of Antarctica lie the Gamburtsev Mountains. Their towering peaks cover an area similar to that of the Sierra Nevada range in California. The highest point is about 3,500 meters (11,500 feet)...

Life in the fast lane: moose have adopted an urban lifestyle in Alaska's biggest city.(LIFE)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Look both ways before crossing the street." That's the standard warning parents give kids to keep them from getting hit by cars on the way to school. But the kids in Anchorage also heed it to avoid moose! ...

A second war: after Army Spc. Jon Town returned from Iraq with a traumatic brain injury, he had to fight the U.S. military.(HEALTH)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jon Town sits on the front porch of his suburban Ohio home, nursing a cigarette. With a tired voice and bloodshot eyes, the 27-year-old veteran describes the headache that's been gnawing at him for months. Town...

Foreign insects attack trees.(earth)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RUSSELL, Pa. -- One of baseball's great debates--which bats are better, ash or maple?--might soon be history. It won't be ended by a physics experiment but by a green bug. Called the emerald ash borer, the insect has...

Insight.(DISCOVERIES: News Briefs from Current Science)(artist's drawing of Mecistotrachelos apeoros)(Brief article)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is an artist's drawing of Mecistotrachelos apeoros, a winged reptile that lived about 200 million years ago. Fossils of the creature, which was about the size of a modern-day cardinal, were recently found in a...

Pigeon fanciers trapped.(too weird)(Brief article)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PORTLAND, Ore. -- A 16-month federal sting operation has resulted in charges being filed in July against at least 13 pigeon owners in California, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. All the men charged raise...

Doubt cast on paintings.(physical)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] BOSTON -- This fall, the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College is presenting an unusual exhibition of works by the great American painter Jackson Pollock (1912-1956). Some of the paintings have the look of those...

Video game blasts cancer.(health)(Brief article)
October 19, 2007... PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Video games sometimes get a bad rap from doctors. They claim the games are addictive and can promote a couch-potato lifestyle. Until now, that is. In the video game Re-Mission, the enemy isn't Bowser or Ganon; it's...

Alien planet is wet.(space)(HD 189733b)(Brief article)
October 19, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] LONDON -- Space scientists have found the first evidence of water on an extrasolar planet (planet outside our solar system). The planet, whose code name is HD 189733b, orbits a star similar in size to our sun in the...

Bend your mind.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science)(Brief article)
October 19, 2007... Check out these two identical triangles, each one made with three sticks. Now rearrange the sticks so that they form four triangles. Each new triangle must be the same size as the original two above. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Whatizit?(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science)(Brief article)
October 19, 2007... People on the Italian island of Sicily were mesmerized by what looked like a huge smoke ring blown high into the atmosphere. But the ring was made of steam, not smoke. What might have blown it into the sky? Mount Etna, a volcano in Sicily,...

Mystery photos.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science)
October 19, 2007... Top: toothpicks Middle: cucumbers Bottom: power button on a computer [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]