Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication articles from September 2007

Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication archives from September 2007

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science!
September 7, 2007... SCI-TRIV GAME 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...

Who knew?(tiny camera that attaches to a cat's collar to photograph its daily doings)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... ANDERSON, S.C. -- The cat is out of the bag! A German engineer living in the United States has invented a tiny camera that attaches to a cat's collar and photographs the feline's daily doings. The engineer, Jurgen Perthold, devised the...

The glass menagerie: Costa Rica's translucent amphibians have a rain-forest refuge.(LIFE)(glass frogs)(Cover story)
September 7, 2007... It's midnight, and I'm deep in a Costa Rican rain forest, consumed by fear. The beasts of the night are screaming in a riot of clicks, pops, and high-pitched trills, and my mind is flashing with images of boa constrictors and vampire bats. ...

Water wings: why are competitive swimmers setting so many records.(LIFE/PHYSICAL)
September 7, 2007... In March, swimmers made big waves in Melbourne, Australia. Slicing through the water at the World Swimming Championships, they set 11 new world's records. Records in swimming are falling fast. New ones are often set and broken in less than...

Dry run: will the drought gripping the U.S. Southwest ever end?(EARTH)
September 7, 2007... Who pulled the plug on Lake Powell in southern Utah? A chalk-white "bathtub ring" marks the level that the water once reached, 30 meters (100 feet) above the current surface. And why are so many Las Vegas residents tipping up their lawns?...

Out break: why did Arizona authorities lock up a sick man?(HEALTH)(extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis)
September 7, 2007... Robert Daniels most of the last year in solitary confinement in Phoenix, Ariz. The light in his room was kept on 24-7. He was permitted outdoors only once, his feet and hands in shackles. What crime did Daniels commit'?. Arson? Robbery?...

Skyscraper has bright future.(technology)
September 7, 2007... NEW YORK CITY -- New yorkers will soon be seeing the Empire State Building in a new light. The floodlights that bathe the top of the skyscraper in a rainbow of colors throughout the year will be replaced with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). ...

Glove restarts heart.(health)(cardiopulmonary resuscitation glove)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... HAMILTON, Ontario -- Corey Centen, 22, and Nilesh Patel, 21, both took a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course in high school. CPR is an emergency first-aid technique often used on people who have suffered cardiac arrest-a condition in...

Toxic toads arm snakes.(life)(tiger keelback snake)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... NORFOLK, Va. -- Many snakes have poisonous fangs, but the tiger keelback snake (Rhabdophis tigrinus) has a poisonous neck. Not only that, it gets the poison directly from its diet. Tiger keelbacks inhabit much of Japan, including the the...

Great Caesar's ghost: kryptonite!(earth)(jadarite, the new mineral found in Serbia)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... LONDON -- New minerals aren't easy to find, especially ones said to have superpowers. Geologists working for a mining company in Serbia have found a mineral with the same chemical makeup as kryptonite, the fictional green crystal that saps...

Professor Ossolotch.(Ask)(Blu-ray Disc)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... What is a Blu-ray Disc? Dear Lynn, You've seen those ads too"Wild Hogs! Now available on Blu-ray or DVD!" What's the difference between the two? Blu-ray Discs hold more information than DVDs do. Information is stored on a DVD in...

Finger length predicts exam scores.(too weird)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... BATH, England -- Are you anxious to know the results of your latest math test? Don't fret another minute. Just compare the lengths of your ring and index fingers. Mark Brosnan, a psychologist at the University of Bath, has uncovered a...

Bend your mind.(OPTRICKS: brain Teasers From Current Science)
September 7, 2007... How can you add these two numbers to get a total of 1,590? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

What iz it?(OPTRICKS: brain Teasers From Current Science)(honeybee)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... The honeybee is very hairy. Hair grows on its body, legs head, and antennae. Even its eyes are hairy, as this pho shows. What function might the eye hairs serve? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Mystery photos.(OPTRICKS: brain Teasers From Current Science)
September 7, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

A portrait of an artist-scientist: check out how Mark Parsons blends biology and architecture to create art!
September 7, 2007... Have you ever wondered what made the earth spin, or why waves crash against the shore for ever and ever, or been curious about the world around you--from the biggest ideas to the smallest? Do you ask questions? Do you investigate and learn?...

Sci-triv game: have fun learning about science!(science trivia)
September 21, 2007... 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,...

A puppy named Peggy set fire to her home in East Sleekburn, England, when she accidentally turned on a stove burner while trying to reach a chocolate cake.(ANIMAL SPOTS)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... A puppy named Peggy set fire to her hime in East Sleekburn, England, when she accidentally turned on a stove burner while trying to reach a chocolate cake. She survived the fire by submerging herself in a bathtub full of water.

Naturalists in Australia have captured the biggest cane toad ever recorded.(ANIMAL SPOTS)(Toadzilla)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... Naturalists in Australia have captured the biggest cane toad ever recorded. Nicknamed Toadzilla, it is about the size of a small dog. Australia is overrun with cane toads, which were introduced to the country in 1935. Cane toads are tough as...

Rooks at a train station in Exeter, England, collect smoldering cigarette butts and pull their wings over the butts, gathering the smoke.(ANIMAL SPOTS)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... Rooks at a train station in Exeter, England, collect smoldering cigarette butts and pull their wings over the butts, gathering the smoke. A representative for the Exeter Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says the birds may be using the...

A horse at a safari park in Germany has given birth to a zebrula--a horse-zebra crossbreed.(ANIMAL SPOTS)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... A horse at a safari park in Germany has given birth to a zebrula--a horse-zebra crossbreed. Zookeepers did not know that has mated with a zebra while vacationing on a ranch in Italy. The zebrula's coat is a crazy quilt of white and striped...

Winds of change: Virginia residents are fighting the construction of a wind farm.(EARTH/PHYSICAL)(Highland New Wind Development)(Cover story)
September 21, 2007... An ill wind is blowing through Virginia. At least that's what some residents are saying as developers move closer to erecting 19 windmills on the green hills in the western part of the state. The giant fans would be the state's first wind farm,...

Prickly situation: Arizona wildlife rescuers save spiny residents from urban sprawl.(LIFE)
September 21, 2007... Dawn has just broken when a small troop of volunteers arrives in the Sonoran Desert, just outside of Tucson, Ariz. Many are wearing thick welding gloves. One is carrying a bottle of typewriter correction fluid. Another is toting a jackhammer....

Hard knocks: young athletes lack lifesaving knowledge about head traumas.(HEALTH)
September 21, 2007... Willie Baun will never forget seventh grade, which is ironic because he spent most of the year with amnesia. It all began when he collided with another player during a football game. The hit left him feeling woozy, and his doctor diagnosed his...

To the moon? Is building a base on the moon a stellar idea--or scientific lunacy?(EARTH)
September 21, 2007... Late last year, NASA, the U.S. space agency, announced plans to return to the moon by 2020. The goal is to have people living there by 2024. Today's teens will be the right age by then to become lunar inhabitants. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Fish snout senses electricity.(life)(spoonbills)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... ST. LOUIS -- The duck-billed platypus of Australia may be one of the world's strangest-looking creatures, but the North American paddlefish isn't far behind. It too has a bill, one even longer than the platypus's. Now, a biologist at the...

Pesticides linked to Parkinson's.(health)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... ABERDEEN, Scotland -- yet another study, this one in Europe, has connected Parkinson's disease with exposure to pesticides. The study compared the lifetime experiences of people who have Parkinson's with those who don't Parkinson's disease...

Patient has green blood.(too weird)(sulfhemoglobin)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... VANCOUVER -- A close encounter with alien life might be what Alana Flexman thought was happening. The young doctor at St. Paul's Hospital had inserted a catheter into the arm of a 42-year-old male patient when out came blood as green as Mr....

Lake losing superiority.(earth)(decreasing water level of the Great Lakes)
September 21, 2007... DULUTH, Minn. -- Lake Superior isn't as great as it used to be. It and two other Great Lakes--Michigan and Huron-- are shrinking. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The water level in Lake Superior, which has the largest surface area of any...

Farms grow up.(technology)(Seoul Commune 2006 and New York City's proposed vertical farms)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... SEOUL, South Korea--Earth's population, now approaching 6.7 billion, is forecast to add another 2.5 billion by 2050. How will the planet support so many extra people without sacrificing more of nature? A team of architects in South Korea has...

Ask Professor Ossolotch: why does biting a Life Saver make your mouth light up?(DISCOVERIES: News Briefs From Current Science[R])
September 21, 2007... Marshall Moseley, Shrub Oak, N.Y. Dear Marshall, you're talking about the Wint-O-Green Life Saver effect. Here's how to observe it: Take some winter-green-flavored Life Savers and a mirror into a closet Close the door, and turn off the...

Whatizit?(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science[R])(river delta)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... This might look like something growing in a petri dish, but it's a type of geological formation, named after a letter in the Greek alphabet, found in many places on Earth. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANSWERS a river delta, specifically...

Bend your mind.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science[R])(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... This square has four coins on each side. Rearrange the 12 coins so that there are now five coins on each side of the square, The trick may sound impossible, but it can be done. Arrange eight of the original 12 coins into a square with three...

Mystery photos.(OPTRICKS: Brain Teasers From Current Science[R])
September 21, 2007... Answers Top: bananas; Middle: rotary phone dial; Bottom: colored pencils

Discoveries.(SKILLBUILDERS)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... Fill in the Blanks Find the word that best completes each sentence. Write the word in the blank. 1.-- is the study of bodies of freshwater. 2. A-- is an intense, disabling headache. 3. The crops in a hydroponic garden are...

Word search.(SKILLBUILDERS)(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... O K L M S I S U C A R E P Y H T R U I J B R Y W G Z L W G Q E G F G T R H E F U Z Q U B J Q F L R O V E A N O Z I R A M E G B D E K W B R F Z F K M F J G D Z Y N C X M H C K P E D G L X Y O D E M T U V E O I Q L B T K E M R W Y D R E...