Science World articles from November 2004

Science World archives from November 2004

Frog food.(Life/Adaptations)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Here's a power-packed lunch: Researchers have discovered that a feast of ants gives poisonous frogs from Panama their predator-battling toxins. John Daly, a chemist at the National Institutes of Health, found that the frogs munch on ants...

Cancer champ.(Health/Cancer)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Three years of battling cancer taught 9-year-old Ben Duskin how to be a hero. Now that he's healthy, he's helping other kids with cancer understand their disease. Ben paired up with a software maker from LucasArts to create a video game about...

Dirty work.(Earth/Erosion)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... How long would it take to fill the Grand Canyon with dirt? About 400 years if you used all the soil shuffled around by humans in the U.S. every year. Compare that with the 5 million years it took the Colorado River to carve out the canyon. ...

Tuned out.(Graph It/Physical)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Can you hear me now? Turns out the communication between members of one bat species is breaking up. Large-eared horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus philippinensis (RINE-oh-LOW-fus FILL-uh-pin-EN-sus), come in three sizes. "[Each size bat] calls...

Invasion of the body snatchers: billions of microscopic critters have taken over your skin, hair, and gut. Here are five that might make you scream ... If only you could see them.(Life Parasites)
November 1, 2004... DID YOU KNOW? * The skin of the average-size human--which covers an area of 1.7 square meters (2 square yards)--is home to as many bacteria as there are people in the United States. The U.S. population is estimated at 294 million people....

Night owl: how barn owls on the prowl use sound, light, and silent flight to snag their prey.(Life Adaptations)
November 1, 2004... DID YOU KNOW? * An Inuit myth says that the short-eared owl was once a young girl who was magically transformed into an owl with a long beak. The bird lost its long beak when it became startled and flew into the side of a house, flattening...

Sugar load: unwrap the secrets behind some of the world's wackiest candies.(Physical Chemistry)
November 1, 2004... DID YOU KNOW? * Sugar glass premiered in early action movies. Actors, instead of crashing painfully through real window glass, dove into large sheets of candy glass. When shattered, these softer and safer "windows" broke into large shards,...

Hands-on science (no lab required).
November 1, 2004... After reading "Sugar Load" (p .14), try out this hands-on experiment to learn how different chocolates melt. PREDICT Which type of chocolate has a lower melting point: a candy-coated or non-coated chocolate? Does the size of a piece of...

Slime hunters: scientists brave deadly gases and flesh-burning acid to discover what's hidden in a cave in Mexico.(Earth Caves)
November 1, 2004... DID YOU KNOW? * Cave animals are classified into three groups: Trogloxenes--such as bats--live near the cave entrance and go into the cave to find food or shelter. Troglophiles--such as cave salamanders--live in caves at times, but can...

Sore eyes.(Gross Out)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... A new, glittery fashion could change how you see things... literally! Dutch eye surgeons recently inserted tiny pieces of jewelry called JewelEye into the eyes of six women and one man. How did doctors pull off this implant? Your eye is a...

Explain this! Mini Picnickers?(Activities & Oddities)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
November 1, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANSWERS No, it's not a jumbo picnic table. And no, the people did not shrink. The picnickers were actually relaxing on a grassy hill about 15 meters (50 feet) behind the table. The photographer created the...

Tease your brain.(Activities & Oddities)
November 1, 2004... The diagram above is made up of toothpicks, and represents an ice-cream sundae glass. Can you move just one toothpick to place the cherry outside of the glass? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Creepy caves.(Activities & Oddities)
November 1, 2004... ACROSS * 1. Groundwater: water that fills holes in -- and rocks * 4. Limestone: -- made mostly of the mineral calcite 8. Part of a shark that sticks out of the water dorsal -- * 9. Hydrogen sulfide is a potentially deadly --...

Science news.(Check For Understanding)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Name: -- 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. Poisonous frogs from Panama get their predator-battling toxins by eating (A)...

Owl leftovers.(Math And Critical-Thinking Skills)
November 1, 2004... Name: -- OWL LEFTOVERS You read in "Night Owl" (p. 12) that barn owls are ace in nabbing prey. What do they eat? A younger owl will sometimes eat 12 mice, while an adult will eat one large rat per night. Other prey that are on the...

Let's go spelunking.(Research Skills/Language Arts)
November 1, 2004... Name: -- In "Slime Hunters" (p. 18), you read about Dr. Diana Northup's journey into Cueva de Villa Luz in southeastern Mexico. Suppose you were her research assistant, and you follow her to Lechuguilla, a cave in New Mexico's Guadalupe...

Yawn! Pass it on.(Life/Behavior)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... Ever spy your neighbor yawning in math class and then find yourself following suit? Turns out, yawning chimpanzees can get fellow chimps hooked on yawning too. Scientists at Japan's Primate Research Institute wanted to find out whether...

Have a ball.(Physical/Light)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... Now you can play ball in your living room--and not break your mom's favorite vase. A new interactive system called XaviX (ZA-vix) hooks up to your television and lets you control onscreen bowlers, baseball batters, and tennis players...

Egg-cellent find.(Earth/Fossils)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... Think the egg buried in the back of your fridge is old? Not compared with the 121-million-year-old egg recently unearthed by scientists in China. What's more, the fossilized (turned to stone) egg contains the perfectly preserved remains of a...

Fruit fight.(Graph It/Health)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... Sweet! A new list of disease-busting foods is full of sugary fruits. The foods are loaded with antioxidants, chemical compounds that protect your cells. Inside your body, free radicals (atoms missing an electron, a negatively charged...

Stirring giant.(Earth/Volcanoes)
November 22, 2004... After a quiet slumber, Mount Saint Helens--one of Washington State's volcanoes--has sputtered awake. The volcano last oozed lava (erupted molten rock) in the 1980s. Last month, it erupted again--shooting gases and ash (sand-size rock particles)...

Island of fire: do volcanoes send out warnings before popping their lids? Scientists study toxic gases in search of answers.(Earth: volcanoes)
November 22, 2004... The four-person helicopter plunks down with a thud, and Marie Edmonds hops out onto the shiny black, cobbled ground. Clad in heat-resistant overalls, she loads up her equipment: camera, gas mask, sturdy gloves, hiking boots, and lots of water....

Turkey time: celebrate thanksgiving with these wild birds.(Animal Behavior)
November 22, 2004... Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Before thoughts of turkey start, you salivating, let's pay tribute to this unusual bird. "Historically, turkeys played quite a role in the United States," says James Dickson, a wildlife expert at...

Freeze factor: Professor Popsicle knows how to survive a plunge into icy waters. Do you?(Human Body)
November 22, 2004... CRACK! The ice beneath your skates splinters. In a split second, a gaping hole opens and you drop into frigid waters. You panic. You gasp. What next? That's the question Gordon Giesbrecht (GEEZ-brekt), aphysiologist (scientist who studies...

Hands-on Science (no lab required).(Insulators)
November 22, 2004... PREDICT Which type of material will serve as a better insulator (material that slows heat movement): vegetable shortening or trapped air? How much more heat will a layer of fat trap than no insulation layer at all? YOU NEED * 6...

Extreme rollers: physics helps two adventurous skaters pull off amazing stunts.(Physical: forces and motion)
November 22, 2004... When daredevils Jean-Yves Blondeau and Dirk Auer strap on their inline skates, they plan on more than just a leisurely glide in the park. For one, Blondeau doesn't attach wheels just to his feet: He lashes 28 of them to his whole body. "I have...

Stretched to the limit.(Gross Out)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2004... When Monte Pierce warms up before a competition, he doesn't stretch his leg or shoulder muscles. Instead, he yanks on his gummy earlobes. Nicknamed "Slingshot Ears," Pierce holds a Guinness World Record for using his lengthy ears to launch a...

Explain this!(Activities & Oddities)
November 22, 2004... Magic Tower? Last July, onlookers in Columbia, Missouri, spied an unusual site: a 7.5 meter (25 foot)-aluminum tower dangling in midair. But no magic was involved, instead, a giant crane used its special pulleys (simple machines that have...

Tease your brain.(Activities & Oddities)
November 22, 2004... This rope has slots for five rats. Have the two pairs of rats swap sides. Rules: Rats can jump over only one rat, or move one slot, at a time. They can't move backward. Be sure to use the open slot. Brain Teaser Below are nine steps to...

Science news.(Check For Understanding)
November 22, 2004... 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. Scientists found that yawning in chimps, like in humans, (A) suggests...

Sound off.(Graph-Reading/Critical Thinking Skills)
November 22, 2004... In "Turkey Time" (p. 12), you learned about how conservation measures--like stricter hunting guidelines--helped wild-turkey populations grow. How do scientists figure out if there is an increase of wild turkeys? By counting the number of...

Cold Buster.(Language Arts And Research Skills)
November 22, 2004... In "Freeze Factor" (p. 14), you learned about hypothermia. Now, Professor Giesbrecht is sending a team of scientists, including you, to a frozen lake to find a good site for his next experiment. You don't want to turn into a human popsicle, so...