Science World articles from February 2007

Science World archives from February 2007

Dinos bite the dust.(GRAPH IT/METEORITES)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Approximately 65 million years ago, dinosaurs and most other species suddenly became extinct. Some scientists have theorized that a single, large asteroid may have hit the Yucatan Peninsula in present-day Mexico, sparking the die-off. Another...

T-shirt tunes.(PHYSICAL/TECHNOLOGY)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... A new shirt could help music bands rock the house--without instruments! The long-sleeved T-shirt is able to detect the movement of your arms as you strum an imaginary guitar. The shirt's creator. Richard Helmer. an engineer at CSIRO...

See, blind mice.(LIFE/CELLS)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Mice born without eyesight are now seeing the light thanks to teams of researchers in the U.S. and England. The scientists were able to repair the blind mice's vision by replacing damaged eye cells, called photoreceptors, with healthy ones. ...

Teen-made drug test.(PHYSICAL/CHEMISTRY)(Marc Hosken)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Cheaters beware. A high school senior has helped develop a tamperproof drug test. A traditional drug test analyzes a subject's urine sample for the presence of drug chemicals. Marc Hosken, 17, believes this method is faulty: A test subject...

All shook up.(EARTH/VOLCANOES)(Mount Saint Helens)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Washington State's most active volcano, Mount Saint Helens, began erupting in 2004. It has continued to rumble ever since. For the last few years, the mountain has produced a steady rhythm of tiny earthquakes--one every few minutes. Scientists...

Happy, healthy, and wise?(LIFE/VIRUSES)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Happy people are less likely to catch colds. When they do go "achoo," they don't suffer as much as their grumpy counterparts, a new study has found. Sheldon Cohen, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,...

Aliens of the deep: meet the most peculiar creatures that call Earth home.(EARTH: OCEANS)(Cover story)
February 5, 2007... Imagine a place where the temperature hovers at 4[degrees]C (39[degrees]F). There is no sunlight. Tremendous pressure squeezes you on all sides. Residents are some of the most fearsome-looking creatures ever seen, with ghastly bodies and mouths...

Hands-on science: (no lab required).
February 5, 2007... After reading "Aliens of the Deep" (p. 8), try this activity to learn how some fish use an air-filled swim bladder to maintain buoyancy. PREDICT Can you make a "fish" floating inside a soda bottle sink to the bottom just by squeezing...

The science of American.(PHYSICAL: SOUND AND TECHNOLOGY)
February 5, 2007... The sixth season of the popular television show American Idol is in full swing and the judging trio of Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowell have been busy separating the Idol hopefuls from the musically challenged. Last summer, the...

Big shot: with the help of physics, a teenage pool player goes pro.(PHYSICAL: FORCES AND MOTION)(Austin Murphy)
February 5, 2007... Austin Murphy, 13, sizes up the balls that are scattered around the pool table. A crowd of adults has gathered around, but Austin puts them out of his mind. Concentrating only on the game, he sinks the shot. Regulars to the local pool hall...

Orangutans in Peril: Asia's only species of great ape faces an uncertain future.(Around the World)
February 5, 2007... Scientist Willie Smits was walking through a market on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo when he saw something that made his heart sink. His eyes met the sad gaze of an ill-looking baby orangutan trapped inside a cage. This ape was for sale....

Hang nails.(Lee Redmond)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... When it comes to superlong talons, this woman has the competition nailed. Lee Redmond, from Salt Lake City, Utah, holds the world record for the female with the longest fingernails. At 84 centimeters (33 inches) per nail, hers drag along the...

Tease your brain.(YOU CAN DO IT)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Imagine you are grasping the two loose ends of each rope piece, above. If you pull the ends, which rope piece will NOT end up tied in a knot? ANSWER C [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Fossilized human?(EXPLAIN THIS!)(Abdel Abdessemed)(Brief article)
February 5, 2007... Explain This! This isn't a fossil of a giant person The 17 meter (60 foot)-long sculpture was created by artist Abdel Abdessemed, and was displayed at an arts festival in Berlin, Germany, last fall. The sculpture's giant bones are made of...

Science news.(CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING)
February 5, 2007... DIRECTIONS: Read the Science News section on pages 4 to 7. Then, test your knowledge by filling in the letters of the correct answers below. 1. An asteroid that hit Earth--years ago is believed to have caused dinosaurs to suddenly go...

Oil for sale.(GRAPHING/CHART-READING SKILLS)
February 5, 2007... In "Orangutans in Peril" (p. 18), you learned that worldwide demand for palm oil is threatening the survival of orangutans. This activity will help you learn more about palm oil production in Indonesia, the home country of many orangutans. ...

Bomb squad.(LIFE/BEHAVIOR)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Honeybees have a "nose" for nectar. But their keen sense of smell also makes them good bomb sniffers. Scientists are training these insect detectives to find bombs by exposing them to the smell of explosives. The bees' antennae can detect...

Super chomper.(bite of the fish)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... I had a fierce-looking face and a jagged jaw that could bite a shark in two. Scientists recently crowned Dunkleosteus terrelli, or "the Dunk," the fish with the meanest bite ever. The 10 meter (33 foot)-long fish lived 400 million years...

Soda guzzlers?(Center for Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture Policy)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... A recent study on beverage consumption in the U.S. shows that on average, teen girls drink about one 12-ounce can of non-diet soda each day. Teen boys drink more than one-and-one-half cans. Sodas may be tasty, but teens need to remember to...

Storm dusters.(EARTH/HURRICANES)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Forecasters predicted that 2006 would see an above-average number of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. But their predictions fell short by half. What caused the slow season? Scientists believe dust from Africa's Sahara Desert helped put the...

A nose for sight.(Shandong University)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Bats' wrinkled faces may not help them win any beauty contests. But scientists are learning that the animals' facial folds do help them see in the dark. Bats sense their surroundings using echolocation. To "see," they produce sounds with...

Big gulp.(California Institute of Technology, black hole)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Scientists recently witnessed a black hole swallow a supersize snack--a neighboring star. Black holes are monstrous concentrations of matter. The largest variety lurk in the center of most galaxies, says Suvi Gezari, an astronomer at the...

Smells like love: can your nose lead you to your Valentine?
February 19, 2007... Flowers, perfumes, and chocolates--people have long used these sweet-smelling objects to attract a mate each Valentine's Day. But could a dab of Hilary Duff perfume or Derek Jeter cologne really get your science lab partner to take notice of...

The deadly effects of tobacco addiction.(National Institute on Drug Abuse)
February 19, 2007... Tobacco is one of the most heavily used addictive products in the United States, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). In 2004, 70.3 million people used tobacco at least once in the month before being interviewed. That is...

World's wonders, worn down? Only one of the original Seven Wonders still exists. Find out what threatens today's most precious monuments.
February 19, 2007... How do you decide what places to visit when you go on vacation? The ancient Greeks made a list. This ancient travel guide contained the must-see statues, monuments, and places near Greece. These sites came to be known as the Seven Wonders of...

Coming to life: museum artists create dioramas so lifelike that they might he mistaken for the real thing.(American Museum of Natural History)
February 19, 2007... After closing hours, the T. rex skeleton at a natural-history museum roars to life. Models of ancient people step out of their dioramas and roam the exhibit halls... At least that's what happened in the 2006 film Night at the Museum. ...

Name that element! Which element on the periodic table is a nightmare for bugs, helps keep your refrigerator cold, and protects your computer's hard drive? Follow these eight clues to find out. Then turn the page to test your chemistry IQ.(PHYSICAL: CHEMISTRY)
February 19, 2007... CLUE 1 BUDDY SYSTEM In its pure form, the mystery element looks greenish-yellow. But this highly reactive nonmetal easily combines with other elements to form compounds. The mystery element beats all other elements in the number of...

Explain this!(deer antler)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Hair Net? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANSWER: Last November, this mule deer was spotted in Durango. Colorado, wearing an odd antler accessory--a purple volleyball net. The deer may have snagged a hold of the net while trying to scratch...

Tease your brain.(YOU CAN DO IT)
February 19, 2007... Move three of the sticks--plus the fish's eye, its smile, and the bubbles--so that the fish will be facing to the left. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Teacher to teacher: tips for using Science World in the classroom.(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... After reading "Smells Like Love" (p. 8), try this activity from Kim Wiens, a science teacher at Actis Jr. High School in Bakersfield, California: Create a "smell museum." Put samples of scents-such as cinnamon or car fragrance--in...

Science news.(CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING)
February 19, 2007... Name: -- DIRECTIONS: Read the Science News section on pages 4 to 7. Then, test your knowledge by filling in the letters of the correct answers below. 1. A(n) -- is a scientist who studies insects. (A) insectologist (B)...

World tour.(RESEARCH SKILLS)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Name: -- In lifts issue, you learned about some of the contenders for the new Seven Wonders of the World (p. 14). This activity will help your class learn about all the other finalists. To Do: 1. Have each student in your class...

It's elemental!(VOCABULARY BUILDER)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Name: -- DIRECTIONS: First, read "Name That Element!" (p. 22). Then, solve the clues below to complete this crossword puzzle. To spell out the bonus words, unscramble the letters in parentheses. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ACROSS ...

Tobacco addiction and secondhand smoke.(HEADS UP REAL NEWS ABOUT DRUGS AND YOUR BODY)(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Dear Teacher: This month's Heads Up article from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Scholastic provides your students with science-based facts about tobacco addiction and secondhand smoke. The article summarizes scientific...

What do you know about tobacco addiction and secondhand smoke?(Brief article)
February 19, 2007... Answer the questions below to find out what you know about tobacco addiction and secondhand smoke. For multiple-choice questions, there may be more than one correct answer. 1. The addictive ingredient in tobacco is a. nicotine. b....