Science World articles from March 2001

Science World archives from March 2001

Shake Up.(earthquakes in El Salvador and India)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... This year, planet Earth got off to a shaky--and deadly--start. On January 13, a mammoth earthquake registering 7.7 on the Richter scale (measurement of an earthquake's energy) centered about 105 kilometers (65 miles) off the coast of El...

HOW AN EARTHQUAKE HAPPENS.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... An earthquake usually occurs at a fault, a fracture in Earth's crust that separates two large, constantly moving slabs of rock. As the slabs push against each other, intense pressure builds. When the pressure becomes extreme, rocks on either...

SEEING-EYE PONY.(world's first guide horse for the blind)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... No, it's not a strange new breed of dog. It's Cuddles, a 56-centimeter (22-inch) miniature pony. Cuddles is training to become the world's first guide horse for the blind. "No one has tried to train ponies like this" says Don Burleson of...

SURF'S UP.(Internet use by Americans)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
March 12, 2001... In the early 1990s the World Wide Web or Internet--a global network of interconnected computers--was mainly used by universities and governments. But in 1994, new software (computer instructions) helped more than 3 million Americans "surf the...

Short Takes.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... * DO CANDLES STINK? About 10 percent of candles sold in the U.S. give off toxic fumes. Researcher Jerome Nriagu at the University of Michigan has found that candles with lead wicks emit lead levels that often exceed standards for outdoor air...

Spill Scare.(oil tanker runs aground off Galapagos Islands)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Last January, an oil tanker ran aground off the Galapagos Islands and struck terror in the hearts of scientists around the world. How come? The Galapagos Islands, located 966 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador, are home to some of...

Frozen Science.
March 12, 2001... In his most chilling act yet, magician David Blaine entombed himself in a six-ton block of ice for three days last December. "The stunt was designed to test the limits of human endurance, using only willpower to overcome the pain of freezing...

How an Avalanche Forms.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Each year more than one million avalanches, or snowslides, barrel down Earth's mountains. They range from harmless bursts of sliding snow to powerful blasts--some striking with the force of 200 pounds of dynamite. How do scientists predict when...

Taking TIME.
March 12, 2001... Got time on your hands? Read on. How many times do you check the clock in an hour? How many times in a day do you forget time even exists? What is time anyway? It's an ongoing mystery, but scientists think of time as a measurable--though...

STRANGE STRUCTURES.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... From treehouses to underground caverns, people call a wild mix of places home. Imagine climbing a winding staircase up a tree trunk to reach your front door. Or swinging down a ladder to get to your underground home carved in rock. Since...

You Can Do It.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Explain This! "Can" you figure out what this building is made off? Explain This A worker puts finishing touches on a replica of Italy's ancient Coliseum, which was constructed from 10 million recycled aluminum cans in Rome. The...

DEAR TEACHER.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Our feature on "Frozen Science" is a "cool" tie-in with lessons on the body's metabolism and heat regulation, as well as the Earth science of avalanches (check out our miniposter). A history of timepieces and a glimpse at some strange...

Science in the News Quiz.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Directions: Read the late-breaking science news stories in our Science News section on pages 4-6. Then, test your knowledge by answering the questions below. Circle the correct letter. 1. Earthquakes usually occur a. after a hurricane....

Gene Count.(discovery that humans have about the same number of genes as an ear of corn or a simple roundworm)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The news may bruise your ego, but surprising research shows--genetically speaking, at least--you may not be much more complicated than an ear of corn. Last February, two teams of scientists decoding the human genome--the complete set of genes,...

TOP JOB.(changing light bulbs atop the Empire State Building)
March 26, 2001... How do you change a light bulb 422 meters (1,385 feet) above street level? Ask Deke Johnson, the worker hired last October to replace two aircraft-warning beacons that blew out on top of New York City's Empire State Building. Normally, the...

JUNK ON THE RUN.(the importance of breakfast)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Too busy for breakfast? Kids who grab even a morning snack get better grades and are actually less overweight than those who bail. Like a car, your body constantly needs fuel. The best brain nutrition is glucose, a natural sugar the body...

Short Takes.(a second soda may contribute to obesity)(this and other items are discussed)
March 26, 2001... * EXTRA POP, EXTRA POUNDS Craving that second soda? Think twice, A recent Massachusetts study suggest that each extra sugar-sweetened drink downed by kids ages 11 or 12 causes a 60 percent increased risk for obesity--when more than 30...

Bad Breathosaurus.(discovery of a grooved dinosaur tooth suggests to some scientists that some dinosaurs may have produced poison)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... A dinosaur that could blow you away with poisonous breath? Recently two Mexican paleontologists (dino experts) produced the first and sole evidence so far that some dinos may have used their teeth to lethally inject their prey with venom. The...

The Life and Times of Mir: Highlights from its 15-year history.(Mir space station)
March 26, 2001... * LONGEVITY RECORD: Astronaut Shannon Lucid stayed on Mir for 188 days in 1996--the American record for the longest continuous stay in space. * RESEARCH GALORE: Cosmonauts and astronauts have performed more than 23,000 science...

Goodnight Mir.(Mir space station has many mechanical and technical problems, and will be brought down)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The saga of Russian space station Mir reads like a soap opera. Once Russia's greatest pride, its decay has been plagued by a string of embarrassing breakdowns: power loss, computer failure, and a near-fatal collision with another spacecraft....

CLONING Hit or Miss?(first attempt at cloning to preserve an endangered species fails as the wild Asian ox calf died in two days)
March 26, 2001... Some scientist want to save endangered species by genetically duplicating them. But will this risky process work? Last January, an ordinary Iowa milk cow named Bessie delivered a healthy baby gar, or rare wild Asian ox, named Noah. Talk...

TUNNEL VISION.(tunnel construction)
March 26, 2001... Dig your way through three of the world's most earth-shattering tunnels and the technology that made them. Have you ever sped through a long, dark tunnel and wondered how it was built or why it doesn't collapse? Tunnels are among the...

EYES in the SKY.(operation and uses of Global Positioning System)
March 26, 2001... It can navigate your hike through a thick forest or a drive to a friend's party, it can track the whereabouts of a wild elephant or your lost dog. Soon it could even tell your parents exactly where you are, 24 hours a day! Think you can...

Explain This!(sale of elephant-made paintings to finance nature conservation programme)(Illustration)
March 26, 2001... What's this elephant Got his trunk in? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANSWERS This endangered Asian elephant is making modern art. Proceeds from painting sales benefit elephant conservation in Thailand.

The lighter Side.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... "Licking your paws is just the first step. After that, you need to use a good antibacterial body wash, then an exfoliating herbal facial scrub, followed by avocado moisturizing cleanser..."

TEASE YOUR BRAIN.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Can you connect each number to its match starting with number 1? You can't draw through any dot twice, use diagonal lines, or cross over lines you've drawn. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANSWERS [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Optical Delusion?(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Do you see four blue arrow heads or do you see four cubes? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANSWERS Both

FAST FACT.(coral movement)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... FAST FACT: Corals don't move much, so when scientists at the European Oceanological Observatory noticed corals in their aquarium kept shifting overnight, they installed a video camera to solve the mystery. Video footage reveals eunicid worms (a...

DEAR TEACHER.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The death of Noah, a rare Asian ox, signals a rocky start for the cloning of endangered species--and the announcement that researchers plan to start cloning experiments on humans has grabbed world headlines. Our cloning feature provides a...

It's GREAT to TRIANGULATE.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Three GPS satellites are used to pinpoint your exact location on Earth. The method is an easy mathematical principle called triangulation. It states that an unknown point can be located if you know how far that point is from three known points....

Science in the News Quiz.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... 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. Scientists have discovered that humans ...