Science World articles from January 2005

Science World archives from January 2005

Polly wanna chatter?(Physical/Sound)
January 3, 2005... How are parrots such mimic masters? Scientists have discovered that, like you, these birds bob their tongues when forming humanlike sounds. Parrots have a syrinx (SEER-inks), or voice organ, that enables them to mimic words. When the birds...

Growing giant.(Life/Dinosaurs)
January 3, 2005... Ever return from summer vacation to find a classmate has suddenly grown much taller? Like humans, the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex--nicknamed T. rex--experienced a teenage growth spurt. Biologist Gregory Erickson of Florida State University...

Sky spying.(Space/Comets)
January 3, 2005... You don't need high-tech gear for sky-watching. Donald Machholz, a stargazer from California, used a backyard telescope to discover a new comet (celestial body made of ice and dust that circles the sun). Machholz's comet, named C/2004 Q2,...

Flower power.(Physical/Energy)
January 3, 2005... Sunflowers already supply seedy snacks and oil that's great for cooking fries. One day, these yellow blooms may power your car too. Scientists have discovered how to harvest hydrogen gas--a possible fuel for future vehicles--from the...

No-mess laboratory.(Life/Anatomy)(Virtual dissections)
January 3, 2005... Anew law lets Virginia teens opt out of real-life dissections (cutting apart animals for study) in biology class. High-school students commonly dissect dead animals such as frogs to study anatomy (structure of living things). Virginia's law...

Spider dance.(Physical/Waves)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Scientists have discovered that some spiders' flashy attempts at attracting a mate aren't just eye-catching, they're also ground-shaking. When a female jumping spider, Habronattus dossenus (HAB-roh-natus doh-SEN-us), wanders by, a male...

Africa's vanishing apes: these forest-dwelling animals are losing their land--and their lives.(Life endangered species)
January 3, 2005... Craig Stanford creeps through the forest, trying to make as little noise as possible. A blanket of warm, moist air cloaks his skin as he scans the dense maze of trees around him. Suddenly--CRACK--a twig breaks beneath his feet. Stanford's...

Happy anniversary, Einstein!(Physical Sience History)(Biography)
January 3, 2005... One hundred years ago, a 26-year-old aspiring physicist named Albert Einstein presented three new ideas that rocked the scientific community. "He was ahead of his time," says physicist Gary White, director of the Society of Physics Students....

I make a killer potion: deadly frogs, toxic snails, and poisonous puffer fish could fill, up your future medicine cabinet. Turn the page to find out how ...(Life Nervous System)
January 3, 2005... Peering through the overgrown South American rainforest, Taran Grant spies a splash of yellow. It appears to be a poisonous frog. The biologist nabs the critter before it springs away. Then, he licks the milky slime oozing from the frog's back....

Treacherous travels: will two hardy adventurers survive a journey across the Arctic Ocean?(Earth Polar Regions)
January 3, 2005... Later this spring, two former teachers, the American Ann Bancroft, 49, and Norwegian Liv Arnesen, 51, will try to make history. They plan to brave energy-sapping cold, shifting ice, and meat-eating polar bears to become the first women to...

Explain this!(Activities & Oddities)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
January 3, 2005... EXPLAIN THIS! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Leaning Liberty? The Statue of Liberty did not topple or shrink. To honor its sculptor--Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, whodied 100 years ago--a 12 meter (40 foot)-replica was unveiled in Colmar,...

Tease your brain.(Activities & Oddities)
January 3, 2005... Assign each of the patterns a value of 1, 3, or 7, so that the sum of the patterned "slices" equals 29. Hint: No two different patterns can have the same value. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The solid pattern is worth 7 points, the hexagons...

Eye spout.(Gross Out)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... What's with the milky fountain? Last fall, Mehmet Yilmaz snorted milk up his nose, causing his left eye to well up with the cloudy liquid. Then, he shot the milk from his eye to a distance of 2.8 meters (9.2 feet). What enabled Yilmaz to...

Science news.
January 3, 2005... DIRECTIONS: Read the Science News section on pages 4 to 7. Then, test your knowledge by filling in the letter of the correct answer below. 1. A parrot shapes sounds by (A) clenching its beak (B) flexing its diaphragm (C)...

Solar fury.(Earth/Sun)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... The sun has been looking very spotty lately. For the last 60 years, the gaseous star has been experiencing an unusually long and severe outbreak of sunspots, or cooler areas on the sun's surface. Scientists at Germany's Max Planck Institute...

No skipping.(Physical/Chemical Compounds)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Argh, another Beyonce CD ruined by a tiny scratch! Good news: Even the biggest klutz can keep his or her hits skip-free with improved CDs and DVDs. Produced by TDK, an electronics company, these "armor-plated" disks have a protective...

Beetle bait.(Life/Animal Behavior)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Burrowing owls use stinky decorations around their underground nests: other animal's dung. A new study shows that the owls, Athene cunicularia (ah-THEE-nee CYOON-ihcuh-LAIR-ee-ah), gather the waste to attract dung beetles--a favorite snack. ...

Household help.(Technology/Robots)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Tired of doing chores? Help may be on the way. According to a 2004 United Nations survey, an increasing number of robots are taking over housework. Today, about 607,000 "smart machines" are helping out around homes worldwide, and the number is...

Toasted pecans.(Earth/Hurricanes)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... If the syrupy smell of pecan pie makes your mouth water, there's bad news: Last fall, severe storms wiped out crops of pecans in Alabama and Georgia--the United States' top growers. In September, three hurricanes (rotating tropical storms)...

Speaking double.(Life/Brain)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... When Wilmer Valderrama moved from Venezuela to Los Angeles at age 13, he spoke Spanish but very little English. The TV star soon mastered the new language by taking classes--and even watching Sesame Street. Now scientists say that bilingualists...

Baby boom: with scientists' help, pandas are now raising healthy cubs in captivity. These baby bears could keep the species from disappearing.(Life Reproduction)(Cover Story)
January 24, 2005... Last year, a California celebrity left her sunny home for a new address. The star: a popular panda named Hua Mei (WAH MAY). The bear first grabbed headlines when she was born at the San Diego Zoo in 1999. She was the first Giant Panda,...

Spaced out! A high-tech race could make space tourism more affordable.(Earth Atmosphere)
January 24, 2005... Hoping to vacation in outer space one day? Once the plot of science-fiction movies, space tourism just took one giant leap closer to reality. In the past, only governments with bulging wallets could send astronauts into space. But last...

Green giants: tree scientists dare breathtaking heights to solve a mystery surrounding one of nature's tallest skyscrapers.(Life Photosynthesis)
January 24, 2005... Walking on the moist, spongy carpeting of the forest floor, Stephen Sillett squeezes through thick patches of trees. Their brown trunks climb high into the sky like magic beanstalks--topping out at a dizzying 30 stories tall. Sillett is...

Name that element!(Our Popular Mystery Series Returns!)
January 24, 2005... It puts the color in fireworks and takes the danger our of icy roads. It helps digest your food and gives clues to the Martian past. Can you name that element? Follow these eight clues to find out. Then turn the page to test your chemistry IQ....

The periodic table.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The periodic table is a systematic way to organize Earth's elements, substances that consist of atoms of only one kind. Today, there are 112 known and named chemical elements. Elements are arranged according to their...

It's your choice.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Test your chemistry IQ! Answer the following questions about elements and the periodic table. 1. Name that element! -- 2. A compound is volatile if it A can easily break apart. B turns easily into a gas when heated. ...

Stop bugging me!(Gross Out)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Now that's a pest problem! Last spring, Christian, a fifth-grader, shared a locked box with more than 10,000 Madagascar hissing cock-roaches, Gromphadorhina portentosa (GRAHM-fuh-doe-RHEEN-ah POR-ten-TO-sah), on NBC's Fear Factor. ...

Explain this!(Activities & Oddities)
January 24, 2005... Giant bug from space? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] No Fear. It's not a monster alien insect. When a grasshopper bounded onto a car windshield, a passenger snapped a photo using a camera's zoom-in feature. This made the five centimeter (two...

Tease your brain.(Activities & Oddities)
January 24, 2005... Can you draw three straight lines to divide this pizza into "slices" so that each slice has only one piece of pepperoni on it? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Science news.(Check For Understanding)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Name: -- DIRECTIONS: Read the Science News section on pages 4 to 7. Then, test your knowledge by filling in the letter of the correct answer below. 1. The sun is a(n) (A) planet. (B) asteroid. (C) star. (D) Kuiper...