Science World articles from March 2005

Science World archives from March 2005

Under your skin.(Technology/Microchips)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... A new type of ID won't be tucked into your wallet; it'll be implanted under your skin, The company Applied Digital Solutions Inc. began selling VeriChip in January. A doctor would use a needle to inject this microchip under your skin. In an...

Gotta run.(Physical/Forces)(basilisk lizard )(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... HOW does the basilisk lizard run on top of water? The secret is fancy footwork. Tonia Hsieh, a biologist at Harvard University, used high-speed film to capture action shots of the basilisk, or Basiliscus plumifrons (BA-suh-LISS-kus...

Pretty ugly.(Graph It/Life)(risk factor of try-on makeup at stores )(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... After a day of being dabbed by fingers, the try-on makeup at store counters turns ugly. Researchers at Rowan University in New Jersey analyzed store samples to see what people's dipping digits left behind. The most common find:...

Doomed.(Earth/Natural Disasters)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... The ancient city of Pompeii was destined for disaster. In 79 A.D., thousands of people died when a nearby volcano erupted, destroying the town. Now, scientists have discovered that landslides also devastated the city in the centuries before the...

Titan update.(Earth/Solar System)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... On January 14, the Huygens probe successfully landed on Titan--Saturn's largest moon (see SW 12/6/04). Among the data beamed to Earth: never-before-seen images of Titan's icy landscape. Scientists are now interpreting the data, hoping to gain a...

Flower buds: world-famous scientist E.O. Wilson speaks out on the importance of saving the planet's pollinators.(Life: pollination.)(Cover Story)
March 7, 2005... In late spring, as Arizona's red, sunset-filled sky turns a deep blue, a lesser long-nosed bat takes flight. The 1,600 kilometer (1,000 mile) journey from its winter home in Mexico has left this nocturnal bat famished. Fortunately, the...

Which way is north? Beware: Earth's natural compass may be turning upside down.(Earth: magnetism)
March 7, 2005... Will your trusty compass needle ever go haywire? It could, use Earth's magnetic poles may be about to flip-flop. Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field--an invisible shield that protects the planet from energized particles spewed forth by...

Bent on Speed: get the lowdown on how engineers use physics to build the fastest bikes on earth.(Physical: energy & power.)
March 7, 2005... Sealed inside a shell-covered racing bike that's shaped like a shark and sits just barely above the pavement, Matt Weaver hopes that this race will earn him the title of the fastest person on Earth. He sweats, pedaling his machine so quickly...

Hands-on science (no lab required): after reading "Bent on Speed", try out this hands-on experiment to learn how bikes balance.
March 7, 2005... Low racers--which are all about straightaway speed--can't make turns. But recreational recumbent bikes can--and for that they need to be able to balance. Perform this activity to see how center of gravity, or the point around which an object's...

Teens, drugs abuse, and AIDS: the deadly connection: teens who abuse drugs face a risk of getting AIDS and (get this!) of passing it on to the friends they love.(Heads Up: real news about drugs and your body)
March 7, 2005... World AIDS Day takes place every year on December 1. On that day, people all over the planet focus on the challenge of trying both to cure and control its spread. When you think about what a terrible disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency...

Explain this!(Activities & Oddities)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Best Buddies? [ILUSTRATION OMITTED] Last December, when the Indian Ocean tsunami devastated parts of Southeast Asia and South Asia, it also flooded the coast of East Africa. In Kenya, the forceful waves swept a one-year-old...

Tease your brain.(Activities & Oddities)
March 7, 2005... Using all the numbers 1 through 8, can you place one digit in each shape so that the number in each square is the sum of its neighboring circles? [ILUSTRATION OMITTED] * One answer: * There are other possible answers, but in all...

Science news.(Check For Understanding)
March 7, 2005... DIRECTIONS: Read the Science News section on pages 4 to 6. Then, test your knowledge by filling in the letter of the correct answer below. 1. The Verichip identifies you by A a secret code that you create. B a 16-digit number...

Howling success.(Graph IT/Life)(gray wolves)
March 28, 2005... Grab your binoculars: Gray wolves are back in abundance in Yellowstone National Park. Several million of the species, Canis lupus, once roamed much of North America. But by the early 1900s, the wolves had been hunted to near extinction....

Mummy mystery.(Physical/X-Rays)
March 28, 2005... How did King Tut die? A new high-tech scan of the ancient pharaoh's mummified body could help a team of scientists unravel the 3,000-year-old secret. In 1968, images taken of the mummy using X-rays (high-energy waves) revealed a bone...

Sweet relief?(Life/Nerves)(chocolate for stopping cough)
March 28, 2005... Scientists discovered that an ingredient in chocolate has cough-stopping powers. Coughs form when irritants such as dust--or an infection--stimulate nerves in the lungs. The bundles of nerve cells send a signal to the brain to trigger a...

Dried up.(Earth/Tides)
March 28, 2005... Residents of Venice, Italy, rely on boats to navigate the city's crisscrossing canals. Last January, many of these gondolas were grounded when the canals' water levels dropped to the lowest depths in over a decade. Why the dip? A period of fair...

Sleeve trick.(Technology/Electronics)(ski jacket with remote control to mobile phone)
March 28, 2005... Tired of rummaging through your pockets just to answer your cell phone? A ski jacket developed by Motorola could help. It lets you command the phone in your pocket--simply by pressing buttons on a control panel built into the jacket's sleeve....

Movie magic: go behind the scenes of Robots to discover the secrets to creating smash-hit animations.(Physical: computer technology)
March 28, 2005... Rodney Copperbottom isn't your typical kid. For one thing, he's made completely of metal. And if you were to look under his outer covering, you'd find a mesh of gears and springs. Rodney and his equally mechanical friends live in an all-robot...

Hands-on science (no lab required): after reading "Movie Magic", learn how the coordinate system helps animators make films.
March 28, 2005... An animated movie is made up of a series of still images, or frames. These frames can flicker onscreen--one following another--at a rate of 24 frames per second. Because the images appear so quickly, your brain can't separate the frames. To...

How did this happen? Scientists try to unravel what caused the devastating tsunami last December.(Earth: tsunamis)
March 28, 2005... DID YOU KNOW? * The first tsunami ever documented in history occurred off the coast of Syria in 2000 B.C. * Because Hawaii is located in the center of the Pacific Ocean basin, the Hawaiian islands have experienced tsunamis generated in...

It's your choice.(earth)
March 28, 2005... 1 Earth's crust floats on the A mantle. B core. C subduction zone. D tectonic plates. 2 Last December's Indian Ocean earthquake occurred along a--fault. A subduction B thrust C strike-slip D tectonic...

Ready, set, slurp! Scientists discover the secret to chameleons' catapulting tongues.(Physical: energy)
March 28, 2005... DID YOU KNOW? * Dutch biologists Jurrian H. de Groot and Johan L. van Leeuwen, of Wageningen University, calculated that the chameleon can shoot its tongue out of its mouth at a rate of 26 body lengths per second. * "The largest...

The incredible bulk: Major League Baseball struggles to beat performance-enhancing drugs.(Life: steroids)
March 28, 2005... DID YOU KNDW? * Commonly referred to as anabolic steroids, this group of hormones is officially called anabolic (tissue-building)--androgenic (producing male characteristics) steroids. * Over 100 types of synthetic anabolic steroids...

Icky intestines.(Gross out)(killer whale)
March 28, 2005... Biologist and wildlife photographer Todd Pusser got quite an eyeful when he motored up in his boat to this marine "crime scene." In California's Monterey Bay last spring, Pusser snapped a photo of a killer whale, or Orcinus orca (OR-sin-uhs...

Explain this!(Activities & Oddities)(River Yamuna)
March 28, 2005... Snowed in? ANSWERS The white fluff coating the surface of the Yamuna River in India is not snow. The frothy layer is caused by pollution. Millions of liters of raw sewage and industrial chemicals enter the river daily, turning the...

Tease your brain.(Activities & Oddities)
March 28, 2005... Can you build one triangle from these three trapezoids? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Science news.(Check For Understanding)(quiz)
March 28, 2005... DIRECTIONS: Read the Science News section on pages 4 to 6. Then, test your knowledge by filling in the letter of the correct answer below. 1. By the--, gray wolves in North America were nearly extinct. (A) 1850s (B) 1900s (C)...

Wind up here!(Hands-On Activity)(toy making)
March 28, 2005... In "Ready, Set, Slurp!" (p. 16), you learned how chameleons use potential and kinetic energy to launch their tongues. Follow this activity to build a "Retro Roller" toy to see these energies in action. YOU NEED: 12-oz coffee can * 1...

Steroid trends.(Chart-Reading Skills)
March 28, 2005... In "The Incredible Bulk" (p. 18), you learned about the dangers of using steroids. Below is a chart showing the percentage of U.S. students who reported using anabolic steroids. Use the information in the chart to complete the sections that...