Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from September 2001

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from September 2001

Hip To Be Square.(production of square watermelons in Japan)
September 14, 2001... Space is hard to find in the crowded country of Japan. So farmers in the town of Zentsuji grow small, square watermelons that fit more easily in household refrigerators. The square melons, which have proved popular as dinner gifts, cost four...

Wacky World.(Jackie Bibby's world records for handling rattlesnakes)
September 14, 2001... United States. Jackie "Snakeman" Bibby broke one record and tied another June 5 at Billy Bob's Texas honky-tonk in Fort Worth. First, Bibby squeezed into a sleeping bag with 109 rattlesnakes--two more than his previous world record. "I would...

Bad Dogs.(why some breeds of dogs are more likely to attack people)
September 14, 2001... The fatal mauling of a San Francisco woman raises the question: Why do dogs turn deadly? One night last January, Diane Whipple, 33, was unlocking the door to her San Francisco apartment when two large, snarling dogs lunged down the hallway...

Nuclear Reactions.(environmental impact of construction of new nuclear power plants)
September 14, 2001... The Bush administration wants more nuclear power plants built in the United States. Environmentalists say nuclear power is too dangerous. The United States is home to only 5 percent of the world's population, yet it consumes almost 25...

Cell Mates.(boys receive a transplant of stem cells to treat a disease of the immune system)
September 14, 2001... A stem cell transplant saved the lives of two brothers. In 1994, Theresa and Scott LaRue and their four young sons were vacationing in Colorado when 11-month-old Layne seemed to come down with a cold. He died in a hospital two weeks later....

Master OF THE UNIVERSE?(how dark energy is causing the universe to expand)
September 14, 2001... What is the strange force that appears to be tearing outer space apart? IMAGINE heading outdoors one night to stargaze and finding no stars to gaze at. The sky is nothing but an ocean of blackness. You are all alone. One day, far into...

This SHIP Flips!(Deep Water Flip Ship, ship that partially sinks for studying the ocean)
September 14, 2001... GROTON, Conn.--Remember the gut-wrenching scene in Titanic in which the damaged ocean liner tips way up before sliding into the sea? Now a team of maritime engineers has drawn up plans for a ship that would tip and sink on purpose! The...

Salon Tans Called Cancer Risk.
September 14, 2001... BALTIMORE--Salon tans are just as harmful to the skin as outdoor suntans are, according to a new study done at Johns Hopkins University. Elizabeth Whitmore, a dermatologist (skin doctor) at the university, exposed people to ten full-body...

Fizzy Fruit Tickles Tongues.(fun to eat carbonated fruit and other foods will appear on the market)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... GALVESTON, Texas -- Galen Kaufman was on a sailing trip several years ago when he found a pear that had been stored in a cooler filled with dry ice. Dry ice is carbon dioxide ([CO.sub.2]) gas that has been chilled to more than -78 degrees...

Blind Dogs Gain Sight.(researchers use gene therapy to treat dogs that were born blind)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... PHILADELPHIA -- Three dogs that were born blind can now see for the first time, thanks to a new type of medical treatment. Researchers say the therapy may someday lead to a treatment for humans born with the same disease or related forms of...

Cow Pies Power Farm.(cow manure collected to generate electricity)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... WRIGHTSTOWN, Wis. -- Dairy farmer Carl Theunis can boast of having the most productive herd of cattle in the country. Not only do his 1,800 Holsteins give 21 million kilograms (46 million pounds) of milk a year, but they also generate enough...

Seeds of Life May Be Scattered Through Universe.(experiment suggests that life on Earth may have begun in outer space)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... MOFFETT FIELD, Calif.--Did life on Earth begin in outer space? A recent National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) experiment suggests that it may have. In the experiment, a NASA team simulated the frigid conditions of deep...

Too Weird.(a humorous psychological analysis of Winnie-the-Pooh)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... Is Pooh Corner Dysfunction Junction? Winnie-the-Pooh needs a check up from the neck up. So says a team of Canadian doctors who read author A.A. Milne's tales of life in the "100 Aker Wood" and concluded that Pooh and the rest of Milne's...

PROFESSOR OSSOLOTCH ASK.(why hair turns gray)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... Why does hair turn gray? --Joshua Menke Hastings, Minn. Dear Joshua, Hair doesn't actually turn gray. It just loses the natural "dye" that the body colors it with. Human skin has many tiny octopus-shaped cells, called...

Wacky World.(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... United States. Something was really rotten in the state of Michigan in July. A tractor-trailer truck passing through a neighborhood in the town of Otsego crashed and overturned, dumping thousands of eggs on the ground. The broken eggs quickly...

Time Out.(Julian Swartz and obsessive-compulsive disorder)(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... College basketball star Julian Swartz talks to Current Science about the emotional problem that sidelined him for a year. Hours after his teammates had left for home, 18-year-old Julian Swartz would stand alone in his high school gym,...

Plug Into the Sun.(conserving energy)(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... Sarah Pearce, 17, was one of millions of Californians who endured periodic electrical blackouts during the state's energy crisis earlier this year. To help save power, Pearce and her friends chose to eat a celebratory dinner at the end of their...

Give Up the Gas Guzzler.(gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle)(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... Ariel Edesess, 14, loves to ride in her dad's new silver car. "It's cool," the Denver resident told Current Science, "because it hardly uses any gas. It's energy-efficient." The car is a gasoline-electric hybrid, a vehicle that runs on...

Switch The Lights.(compact fluorescent bulb)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 28, 2001... When Adam Stuart, 15, of West Branch, Iowa, brought a strange-looking lightbulb home from school three years ago, he had no idea that it would change his entire family's energy habits. The lightbulb was a compact fluorescent bulb--a coiled...

Bones to Pick.(skeleton found in Kenya)(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... Scientists dig up a rival branch on the human evolutionary tree. Fossil hunters working under the baking sun in a dry bed of the Lake Turkana basin in northern Kenya recently made a remarkable discovery. They found the skull and jawbone of...

Reactor Runs Like the Sun.(commercial fusion reactor)(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... SAN DIEGO--Scientists have moved a step closer to building a nuclear reactor that functions like the supreme energy source--the sun. At the sun's center, a process that scientists call nuclear fusion takes place. Nuclear fusion requires a...

Dry Water Won't Get You Wet.(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... PARIS--Some people are said to be so skinny they can take a shower and not get wet. Even nonskinny people might stay dry in the shower now that two French physicists have developed a type of water that isn't wet. Pascale Aussillous and...

Bugs Eat Dirt from Duds.(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... DARTMOUTH, Mass.--Alex Fowler has an idea for clothes that never need cleaning. They might need feeding, though. Here's the dirt: Fowler, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Massachusetts, has been working with thin,...

Poison Exhaust Endangers NASCAR Drivers.(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... NEDLANDS, Australia--Blinding speeds and dodgy maneuvers already make NASCAR racing one of the most dangerous sports. Now, a group of Australian researchers has found that heat and poisonous gas put stock car drivers at even greater risk. ...

Male Mites Switch Sex.(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... AMSTERDAM--A team of Dutch biologists has identified an all-female species of bug that undergoes bizarre sex-change operations performed by germs. The bug is a type of mite called the false spider mite, which feasts on coffee, tea, and...

Elvis Has Not Left the Building!(parallel realities)(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... MEDFORD, Mass.--Who won the Second World War? Hitler did, right? And who won last year's presidential election? Al Gore did, of course. Those events didn't happen on Earth, but they happened elsewhere in the universe, according to...

the sci-triv game.(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... HAVE FUN LEARNING ABOUT SCIENCE the sci-triv game Want to play a game of science trivia? See how many points you can win by correctly answering the following questions. To find your score, give your 10 points each time you get the...

MYSTERY PHOTOS.(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... Top: inside of a construction cone Middle: computer circuit Bottom: shopping cart wheels [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Bend Your Mind.(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... This mouse wants to have the cheese for lunch. What is the shortest possible route over the cube for the mouse to reach the cheese? Most people think the mouse should crawl across the top of the cube in a diagonal direction to the opposite...

WHATIZIT?(Brief Article)
September 28, 2001... This curlicue is a whipworm, a long, parasitic worm that can live inside people and consume newly digested food. Where in a human body might a whipworm take up residence? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] a whipworm

How to Coach Math.(Ingrid Wickelgren interviewed about her book)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 28, 2001... Current Science is proud to announce the publication of Math Coach (Berkley Books, $14), written by one of our contributing writers, Ingrid Wickelgren, and her father, Wayne Wickelgren. We talked to Ingrid about the book. How did you come...