Science World articles from November 2003

Science World archives from November 2003

Blackout 2004? If you were spared last summer's massive power failure, you may not be so lucky next time.(Earth/Physical Science: Energy/Electricity)
November 3, 2003... Rachel Ridge, her mom, and sister were getting haircuts at a shopping center near Cleveland, Ohio, when the power blanked out on August 14. "Everyone had different opinions," says the 11-year-old. "At first we thought it might be terrorism."...

Fake bake.(Life/Health)
November 3, 2003... Thinking about hitting the tanning salon for some summer like sun? Several new studies found that 30 to 40 percent of white teen girls have "fake baked" at least once, and many of them are hooked on it. It's not just girls, either: One study...

It's a car, it's a boat.(Physics/Technology)
November 3, 2003... Look out James Bond! British engineers recently unveiled the Aquada, a sports car that hugs the road at up to 100 miles per hour, then retracts (pulls in) its wheels in seconds to skim across water at 30 mph. That makes the Aquada the fastest...

Thin is in.(Short Take)
November 3, 2003... Poor old AA batteries. They just can't squeeze into sleek new portable MP3 and MiniDisc players. Time for a battery makeover. Duracell's latest invention--the LPI battery--is basically a slimmer version of the classic 1.5 Volt AA. The LPI packs...

Charged up!(Earth)
November 3, 2003... If you've ever watched lightning strike the ground, you know the sizzling electric bolts pack a powerful punch. Now researchers have discovered a new kind of lightning--only you can't see it from the ground. Their find, called a "gigantic jet,"...

Lightning shocker.(Earth)
November 3, 2003... Charge flows continuously around Earth and its atmosphere. Sometimes electric energy build up in one place and explodes. The result: lightning. "At any given moment, there are over 100 thunderstorms raging across our planet," says Mark Stanley....

Lightning bolts miles in the sky.
November 3, 2003... Scientists have found gigantic lightning jets that shoot upward from cloud tops to 60 miles high in the upper atmosphere--that's five times longer than normal downward-flowing bolts. IONOSPHERE The upper atmosphere, or ionosphere, is...

Creep show.(Life Science: adaptations/defenses)
November 3, 2003... Bloody fangs, spooky lights, or gruesome headgear--perfect to creep out friends on Halloween. But for some animals, such gear is much more than a freaky style statement--it's a matter of life and death. After all, the perfect "look" helps an...

Name that element! this element may be a real lightweight, but it can lift more than 10,000 lbs. and make Darth Vadar sound like Minnie Mouse. What's the mystery element? Grab a periodic table and follow these eight clues to find out. Then turn the page to test your chemistry IQ.(Our Popular Mystery Series Returns!)
November 3, 2003... Clue 1 NOBLE LONER The mystery element, which sits in the far right column of the periodic table, is one of the "noble gases." You can't see it--it's a colorless, odorless gas. And liker all noble gases, it's chemically inert, or...

Gross out?(Activities & oddities: you can do it)
November 3, 2003... What's Shane Bowman tossing around? His own heart! Last summer, the 12-year-old from Edmonton, Canada, received a heart transplant. And to help put closure to his illness and surgery, doctors allowed Bowman to handle his diseased heart after...

Explain this! why is this guy needling an iguna.(You Can Do It)
November 3, 2003... EXPLAIN THIS! Why is this guy needling an iguna. Explain This: Last August, Tirto, a 42-kilogram, 2.3-meter-long Komodo dragon was suffering from a neurological disorder. "He had trouble eating and swallowing, and was very depressed,"...

Tease your brain.(You Can Do It)
November 3, 2003... You need exactly one cup of water for your experiment. But you only have a five-cup container and a three-cup container--and neither has volume markings. Can you use them to measure out exactly one cup of water? Rule: You can only draw...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
November 3, 2003... Special thanks to Ms. Kathleen Dombrink's advanced chemistry class of Florissant, Missouri for pointing out an error in SW's Sept. 1, 2003 issue, The final sentence of clue number 2 in "Name That Element" on p. 19 should read: (Hint: Carbon,...

Lost in transmission: first, read the special report "Blackout 2004?" (p. 4) to learn about how electricity is generated and supplied. Then study the diagram below to answer the questions that follow.(Diagram-Reading Activity)
November 3, 2003... 1. An electric grid transfers electricity from -- to --. 2. Which part of the grid carries the highest voltage?-- 3. True or false: You would likely never know if a power plant near you was shut down for repairs.-- 4. In general,...

Lift off!(Math Skills/Hands-On Activity)
November 3, 2003... Helium balloons float because the helium gas inside is much lighter than the air outside. And you can use the balloons to lift anything--from your eraser to an elephant! The trick: You need enough balloons so that the helium's buoyancy (the...

Don't cross these creepy critters!(Vocabulary Builder)
November 3, 2003... Name:-- Directions: Solve the clues below to complete this crossword puzzle. Then use the letters in parentheses to spell out the bonus words. 1. Small blood vessels:------(-)--- 2. Proteins that speed up chemical...

Quiz.(Science In The News)
November 3, 2003... DIRECTIONS: Read the late-breaking news in our Science News section on pages 8 to 10. Then test your knowledge by answering the questions below. Circle the correct letter. 1. The skin's deepest layer is called the a. epidermis. b....

Now that's intense!(Freeze Frame)
November 17, 2003... As Hurricane Isabel twisted up the Atlantic coast this September at 100 miles per hour, it blew apart homes, flooded streets, and dropped... frog eggs? Yep. One Connecticut resident was surprised to find his lawn sprinkled with small slimy...

Endangered species?(Physical/Tech)
November 17, 2003... Are discs going the way of the dodo? Some experts say that in just five years, one third of music sales may come from downloads, not discs. DVDs could be headed for a drop as well. In a few short years you might just use the Internet, cable, or...

Ozone update.(Short Take)
November 17, 2003... Every fall, the hole in Earth's ozone layer (protective gas in the upper atmosphere) opens wide. This year's hole was nearly the size of North America--35 percent larger than in 2002, when it shrank and split in two. But scientists remain...

Strike a pose.(Health/Psychology)
November 17, 2003... Move over, horoscopes! The new way to define your personality is how you fall asleep. In a recent study, psychologist Chris Idzikowski asked 1,004 English sleepers to identify their personality traits and the position they most often fall...

Gas tax.(Graph It!)
November 17, 2003... New Zealand farmers were outraged last fall when lawmakers threatened to tax their livestock's gas. Why the big stink over fart fumes? Grass-munching farm animals (like cows, sheep, and goats) carry bacteria in their rumen (largest area of...

Diabetes: are you at risk? Today's teens find themselves battling the latest epidemic.(Health/life science: diabetes)
November 17, 2003... Julia, a 16-year old from Phoenix, Arizona, sings in her school's chorus and spends free time on the computer. For dinner, her family gathers to eat fast food or pizza. Then Julia watches TV until bedtime. Her couch-potato lifestyle might be...

Could you survive a desert island?(Physical/life science: fire chemistry/the human body)
November 17, 2003... You've seen it on TV-16 contestants battling it out in the remote Pearl Islands of Panama for a $1 million grand prize and the title of "Sole Survivor." But what does it take to survive on a remote desert island without a production crew or...

The case of the mummified cowboy: follow two detectives as they unravel the truth behind a mysterious American mummy.(Life/physical science: decay/x-rays)(Cover Story)
November 17, 2003... Sylvester was an outlaw in the old Wild West. Legend has it that he was cheating at cards when a bullet to the abdomen swiftly ended his con game. Oozing with blood, the cardshark climbed onto his horse to escape. But the wound was too much for...

Gross out?(Activities & Oddities)
November 17, 2003... Meet Indy, a boa constrictor with two noggins. She was born last July, along with 27 single-minded siblings. While Indy's not the first two-headed snake, scientists believe she's the world's only two-headed boa. "This is the only...

Explain this!(You Can Do It)
November 17, 2003... What's this? A Giant slumber party? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hundreds of people crashed into a San Francisco hotel lobby for a very quick nap. Why? No reason. It's an odd Internet-age fad known as "flash mobbing." Flash mobbers forward...

Tease your brain.(You Can Do It)
November 17, 2003... Use two lines to divide the clock face into three sections. The numbers in each section must add up to the same sum. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Fight diabetes! Weigh-in healthy!(Math/Chart-Reading Skills)
November 17, 2003... Scientists aren't sure what causes type 2 diabetes, but one thing's certain: Obesity is a trigger. What's obesity? It's extreme excess weight, and obesity-related health problems ate linked to approximately 300,000 deaths in the U.S. each...

Stranded.(Vocabulary Builder)
November 17, 2003... Think you could survive a desert island? First, you must survive this crossword. Solve the clues below to complete this puzzle. Then use the letters In parentheses to spell out the bonus words. 1. Heart and blood vessels are part of the...

Make your own mummy!(Hands-On Activity)
November 17, 2003... In "The Case of the Mummified Cowboy," scientists discovered that scorching desert sand did not mummify Sylvester. But how does sand turn a body into a mummy? For this activity, you can use salt as a substitute for sand to mummify apples....

Quiz.(Science In The News)
November 17, 2003... DIRECTIONS: Read the late-breaking news in our Science News section on pages 4 to 7. Then test your knowledge by answering the questions below. Circle the correct letter. 1. A decrease in e hurricane's wind speed corresponds to a(n) a....