Science World articles from February 2002

Science World archives from February 2002

Scary sledding. (Physical News).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... The skeleton may be the scariest event at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Sliders scream belly first down an icy track banked with 15 hair-raising curves at speeds up to 137 km (85 mi) per hour. Named for the sled's bony framework (see picture,...

Speed limit? (Graph It!).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Olympic athlete JENNIFER RODRIGUEZ (U.S.A.) likes being first: The Miami-born speedster is the first Hispanic athlete to compete in the Olympic Winter Games. If all goes well, she'll become the first skater to shatter the women's 500-meter...

Into thin air. (Life/Earth News).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Salt Lake City's altitude has U.S. Olympic cross-country skier NINA KEMPPEL, 31, on high alert. Her 5- to 30- kilometer races take place nearly 1,829 meters (6,000 feet) above sea level. Says the Alaska native: "I'll definitely be careful with...

Walk `N' roll. (Physical/Tech News).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... It may be the single most-hyped invention of the new millennium so far, but is the recently unveiled Segway Human Transporter really a revolutionary vehicle? Well, this 36-kilogram (80-pound) upright scooter (see diagram, above) won't beam you...

Littlest lizard. (Freeze Frame).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... At 16 millimeters (0.63 inch) long, the Jaragua lizard is tiny enough to curl on a dime and evade capture by most stealthy predators. "Normally, lizards eat spiders," says Penn State University biologist Blair Hedges. "But these lizards are so...

Rat race. (Short Takes).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... * RAT RACE: Humans aren't alone in their Olympic ambitions. Psychology professor Spenser Morrison created the annual Rat Olympics at Nebraska Wesleyan University. His athletic rodents (small mammals with gnawing teeth) compete in events like...

Space sea. (Short Takes).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... * SPACE SEA: What lurks beneath the crater-ridden surface of Jupiter's outermost moon Callisto? A massive underground ocean, claim scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. An image snapped last May from the spacecraft...

Survivor miracles: nail in the head, shark attack, lightning strike--impossible to survive? Read three tales that defy all odds. (Life Science/Biology).
February 11, 2002... NAILED! A PATIENT WALKED CALMLY INTO THE EMERGENCY ROOM AT BEN TAUB GENERAL Hospital in Houston, Texas No bleeding or screaming--but something was very wrong. The man's lower left eyelid was pinned open by a nail--its spike jammed 7.6 cm...

Extremophiles: caves rank among earth's most amazing natural wonders. And they brim with some of the planet's strangest life-forms. (Caves/Microbes).
February 11, 2002... EXTREMOPHILES refers to microbes that thrive in extreme places. But the word might just as well apply to cavers who go anywhere to find such life-forms, like this ice cave in Greenland. THE ROPE IS THEIR ONLY LIFELINE. CAVE EXPLORERS NANCY...

America on alert. (Bacteria/Irradiation).
February 11, 2002... Since the terrorist attacks last September 11, the U.S. government has been on the highest level of alert since World War II. Now, terror tactics are under the microscope as scientists brainstorm new ways to protect airports, buildings, the...

GroOs out? (You Can Do It).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Can't bear to look? Stitching up an incision to finish a successful cataract surgery will help this patient do just that: see clearly. A cataract occurs when the eye's clear lens--located behind the pupil (dark central circle) and iris (colored...

Tease your brain. (You Can Do It).
February 11, 2002... Can you divide these 64 squares into 2 sections and fit them together to form 1 large square with 8 small squares on each side? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Explain this! (You Can Do It).
February 11, 2002... Why is this bird under arrest? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The lighter side. (You Can Do It).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... "Coach thinks I dislocated shoulder." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTES] Explain This Animal-control officers in Danville, Calif., wrestled the 1.5-meter (5-foot) tall male emu into a holding pen last summer. But catching the large escaped...

Self-defense: from your kitchen to the science lab and the playing field, how protection-smart are you? Take this quiz to find out. (Check your Knowledge).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Name: 1. A chipped test tube is just as good as a new one. a. True b. False 2. You're stirring a flask and a stray drop of liquid splashes into your eye. It's starting to sting. What do you do? a. Gently massage your eyes...

Science in the news quiz. (Reading Comprehension).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Name: Directions: Read the late-breaking science news stories in our Science News section on pages 4-7. Then, test your knowledge by answering the questions below. Circle the correct letter. 1. This feature helps fight air resistance...

First human clone? (Life News).
February 25, 2002... Human cloning may sound like future shock, but the technology is here and now. Amid raging controversy whether cloning is beneficial or unethical, scientists at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) in Worcester, Mass., claim to have taken the first...

Clean-mobile. (Physical News).(General Motors research of hydrogen-propelled engine)
February 25, 2002... At first glimpse you think: space-age Batmobile--not pollution-free car. But General Motors' futuristic concept vehicle AUTOnomy is just that: Its engine is propelled not by gasoline but hydrogen, the most abundant, renewable element in the...

Milk mix-up? (Freeze Frame).(cat nurses orphaned squirrels)
February 25, 2002... Last year, this courageous cat rescued two orphaned two-week-old squirrels in Bedford, Texas, from sure starvation. The squirrels wouldn't drink the usual milk substitute from a bottle or syringe, says Bedford animal-control officer Michelle...

Crash course. (Short Takes).(space rock comes close to hitting earth)
February 25, 2002... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: CRASH COURSE: On January 7, a 300-meter (984-foot)-wide space rock called "2001 YB5" skimmed past Earth with only 600,000 kilometers (372,823 miles) to spare--a distance astronomers call hair-raising. The...

Amazing animal babies giant baby born size of a first-grader! Dad gives birth on ice! Stork brings bundle to two-million-year-old! Plus: shell shocker exposed. (Life science: reproduction.(stump lizards; Emperor penguins; rhinoceros born in captivity)
February 25, 2002... GIANT STUMPY CONTRARY TO popular belief, not all lizards lay eggs. Some are viviparous, or give birth to live young. And when the shingle-back--also known as the stumpy lizard--delivers, it's a mother load. "Baby stumpies are very large,"...

Tolerance: overcoming fear to understand others. (Keep the cool in school: a scholastic campaign against violence and verbal abuse).
February 25, 2002... FOR 99 PERCENT of human history, we lived in hunter-gatherer clans of 40 to 50 members. Our major predators were other humans--people killing people. If we were out hunting and saw an unfamiliar face--with unfamiliar dress, language, and...

The mystery of Flight 587? What caused the crash of Flight 587? Investigators sift through wreckage for clues. (Physical Science Forces/Flight).(crash of American Airlines flight)
February 25, 2002... WHEN AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 587 departed from New York's JFK airport on November 12, 2001, it sailed smoothly into a clear blue morning sky. For 251 passengers and 9 crew on board, it was an ordinary takeoff. But in less than two minutes, the...

Hot spot: scientists prove beneath Yellowstone and find a seething volcanic basin that could one day blow its top. (Earth Science Volcanoes).
February 25, 2002... TOWERS OF scalding water gush up from the ground hundreds of meters into the sky. Bubbling mud ponds belch steaming gases from below. A scene from Middle Earth in the movie Lord of the Rings? No, it's Yellowstone National Park, home to more...

You can do it.(constructing and maintaining wax figurines)
February 25, 2002... These aren't skewered hands for a barbecue. They're part of a full-scale replica of President George W. Bush, to be displayed at the Wax Museum in San Francisco, California. But creating the model was a challenge: "George was too busy to sit...

Explain this!(Siberian tiger cub recovers from clawing; facts about Siberian tigers)
February 25, 2002... What's wrong with this tiger? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANSWERS This Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) cub isn't modeling new headwear. Twelve-week-old Freedom is being fed breakfast by a veterinary student in Gainesville,...

Science in the news quiz.
February 25, 2002... Directions: Read the late-breaking news in our Science News section on pages 4 to 7. The test your knowledge by answering the questions below. Circle the correct letter. 1. One private company has cloned a human embryo as advanced...

Grow up! (Chart-Reading Skills/Vocabulary Builder).(analysis of mother's milk)(Teacher's Edition)
February 25, 2002... The milk of mammals has the following ingredients in common: fat, protein, lactose (a complex sugar), and water. But the percentage of each ingredient differs from species to species. Study the chart to answer the questions that follow. 1....

Name that baby. (Chart-Reading Skills/Vocabulary Builder).(quiz about names for baby animals)(Teacher's Edition)
February 25, 2002... Test your "baby-naming" IQ by matching the animal with its young. (Note: Answers may be repeated more than once.) Animal 1. -- Bear 2. -- Reindeer 3. -- Termite 4. -- Whale 5. -- Opossum 6. -- Swan 7. --...

Volcano: shapes and sizes. (Chart-Reading/Diagram 1).(Teacher's Edition)
February 25, 2002... Seen one volcano, seen them all? Not true, say geologists. A volcano's form depends on a) whether its eruption was quiet or explosive (or both), and b) the type of lava it spews. Read the descriptions of the volcano formations below. Then, in...

What kind of volcano am I? (Chart Reading/Diagram 2).(Teacher's Edition)
February 25, 2002... After learning about the basic kinds of volcano formations, read the descriptions of the real-life volcanoes below. Then answer the question: What kind of volcanic formation am I-- cinder cone, composite, caldera, shield volcano, or lava dome?...