Science World articles from March 2000

Science World archives from March 2000

Gym Star.(Yewki Tomita uses physics in gymnastic routines)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... As the world gears up for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Yewki Tomita, a 19-year-old gymnast from Tucson, Ariz., has his eye on the gold. If he wins, he may want to thank physics. An accomplished gymnast, Yewki knows how to use...

PANDA PAL.(zoo curator Lisa Stevens)(Brief Article)(Interview)
March 6, 2000... Name: Lisa Stevens Hot Job: Associate Curator of Mammals Where: The National Zoological Park (Washington, D.C.) Why did you pick a career in zoology (the study of animals)? I was fascinated by animals as a child. After graduating...

COOOOL PLANE.(futuristic Proteus aircraft)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... This futuristic jet wasn't designed to shatter speed records, but it just may improve your cell phone reception or launch you out of the atmosphere! The brainchild of aerospace engineer Burl Rutan the Proteus aircraft is named after the...

Short Takes.(ancient bodies found in Pompeii, Italy; meteor explosion; glue used to repair pet tarantula)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... * HOT BODIES Archaeologists recently added 48 nearly intact bodies to the 13 ash casts of humans excavated near Pompeii, Italy. The victims died in extreme heat after volcanic Mt. Vesuvius blew its top in 79 A.D. * KA-BOOM! In...

Seeing Is Believing.(experimental seeing device restores sight by stimulating the brain)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... After 36 years of darkness, a blind man can see again. Thanks to a new "eye opening" technology, a patient identified only as "Jerry"--a 63-year-old man who went blind in 1964--can once again view the world around him. He's one of the first...

Space Jam.(US works to slow growth of space debris)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... When you look at the clear night sky, it's hard to imagine that space is so... jammed. Did you know the U.S. Space Command tracks nearly 9,000 human-made objects orbiting Earth (see chart, right)? Of these, more than 6,000 objects,...

PANDA-MONIUM.(intensive study of pandas is underway)
March 6, 2000... Pandas Fight to Survive The cage was empty, with only a photograph of the former resident sitting where he used to play. Crowds of mourners bearing flowers and condolence letters came to bid a tearful goodbye. They mourned a giant furball...

Other endangered mammals.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... The giant panda isn't the only mammal threatened by habitat loss, urban sprawl, and poaching. These factors are also the main killers of the following mammals: cheetahs Count: About 12,000 Habitat: Scattered through eastern and...

Fantastic Fossil Finds.
March 6, 2000... For fossil hunters, 1999 was a mother lode. Paleontologists (fossil unearthed a perfectly intact wooly mammoth, assembled the longest-necked dinosaur, and uncovered what may be the world's oldest tree. Since fossils are preserved remnants of...

Fireworks Grow Up!(new fireworks technology)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... New technology lights up the millennium One million people watched 20 tons of fireworks blaze over Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia It may be one of the defining moments of the new millennium. As the 20th century drew to a close,...

You Can Do It.
March 6, 2000... Explain this! Why is this moose in the kiddie pool? The Lighter Side "It's an organ donor card. If you go first, I'd like to get your bones." Tease your brain Can you use every line on the puzzle to follow one continuous...

'NET Raves.(science Web sites)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2000... Log on to some amazing science Web sites: ! How Many Beats? How Many Breaths? Enter your birth date or any other day to find out how many heartbeats, breaths, and other events have taken place since then! www. discoveryhealth.com/DH/...

Gas Garbage?(disposing of green house gasses)(Brief Article)
March 20, 2000... Remember 1999, the second-warmest year of the 20th century? (The warmest was 1998.) If the trend continues, 2000 may go down in history as another scorcher. What's turning up the heat? Most likely it's green-house gases, such as methane and...

EXTREME SPEED.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2000... U.S. runner Michael Johnson recently ran 400 meters in just over 43 seconds--a world record! His top speed was 20 miles per hour, but that's half the speed of an ostrich fleeing a predator on the African savanna, or grasslands. And the ostrich...

LAST BITE.(whale shark)(Brief Article)
March 20, 2000... Is this scuba diver history? The whale shark isn't a whale, but earns its name from its bulk. It weighs in at 13,607 kilograms (30,000 pounds)! But humans aren't on the creature's menu. Though the shark sports 300 rows of tiny teeth--about...

Short Takes.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2000... * THINK QUICK! Scientists now claim if you don't use your brain you just might lose it. After reviewing 35 years of data, German scientists propose that merely three weeks of mental inactivity leads to an average drop of 20 IQ...

Teen Power.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2000... With beads of sweat and quivering strain, Cheryl Haworth (HAY-worth) hoists a 137.2-kilogram (302.5-pound) barbell from the floor to her shoulders. Locking her elbows and knees, she musters every ounce of strength and manages to thrust the bar...

SPY TECH.
March 20, 2000... Spying is a profession as old as human history. Now spies have turned new technology into tricks of the trade. When Ho Lee, renowned Chinese-American physicist, sits in solitary confinement in an Albuquerque, New Mexico prison. Last...

HANDS-ON SCIENCE.(how to make a periscope)(Brief Article)
March 20, 2000... Scope it Out YOU NEED: 2 empty paper-towel tubes * masking tape * 2 old CDs * ruler * scissors TO DO: 1. Lines up the two paper-towel tubes end to end. Tape together where they meet. 2. Find the lines where...

MISSION to MARS.
March 20, 2000... Scientists hunt for clues to the mysterious history of water on Mars At 12:01 P.M. Pacific Standard Time on December 3, 1999, the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft beamed one last "okay-to-go" signal to Earth before descending into the dusty...

Meat-Eating Plants.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2000... Welcome to California Carnivores--where plants lure, trap, and eat anything they can catch flying or hopping by! When Peter D'Amato's plants seem "hungry," he doesn't dip into a bag of fertilizer. The bugs buzzing around his greenhouse...

You Can Do It.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2000... Explain this! What turned these poor sheep pink? The Lighter Side "We're developing a new breed of chicken that can lay eggs, bacon, toast, and juice!" TEASE YOUR BRAIN Here are five sets of numbers. Four sets have one...