Science World articles from October 2005

Science World archives from October 2005

Great jump.(skateboarding)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Last July, Danny Way rolled into the record books. He became the first person to leap across the Great Wall of China... on a skateboard! Way began his wall-jumping roll from the top of a towering J-shaped ramp. "The higher up he is, the...

Triple sunrise.(a planet among three stars)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... On one newly discovered planet, if you were to miss the morning sunrise, you'd have two more chances to catch it. That's because the gas giant--a Jupiterlike planet made mostly of gas--has three stars like our sun moving across its sky....

Eye-spy.(MaxSight contact lenses)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Baseball players in this year's World Series may be sporting new high-tech eyewear that lets them see the game in a whole new light. Normally, a batter struggles to focus on the target--such as a fastball whizzing toward home plate at more...

TV time.(health watch)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... You'd better get moving if you want to catch your favorite television show tonight. A new gadget is designed to make you earn your TV time--through exercise. Skipping physical activity can cause a person to become overweight, which may...

It's a wrap.(glacier protection from sun)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Last summer, workers at a mountain ski resort in Andermatt, Switzerland, tried to beat the heat. To keep the sun's intense rays from melting the mountain's glacier, they shaded the icy cap beneath a cool plastic wrap. Why the need for a...

Who dunnit? Wildlife criminals beware: one lab uses high-tech tools and detective work to solve crimes against nature.(LIFE GENETICS)(National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory)
October 3, 2005... DID YOU KNOW? * Created in 1973, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an agreement between world governments to prevent the trade of endangered wildlife. To help enforce CITES, the...

Hands-on science (no lab required).(fingerprint-lifting)
October 3, 2005... After reading "Who Dunnit?" (p. 8), try this hands-on experiment to learn how scientists lift fingerprints and match them with a person. PREDICT: When you touch different surfaces, you often leave fingerprints, or a "stamp" showing...

Lift off! Taking to the skies with helium balloons.
October 3, 2005... DID YOU KNOW? * Balloon pilots prefer to fly soon after dawn or just before sunset. That's because the winds tend to be calmest during those times of the day. The calmer the winds, the safer the conditions for navigating balloons. *...

Voyage of discovery: a historic South American cruise, led to groundbreaking findings about the wild kingdom.
October 3, 2005... DID YOU KNOW? * The smaller and fluffier of the two rhea species found in South America is commonly known as Darwin's rhea. Its habitat ranges from southern Argentina to Peru and Bolivia. The 90 centimeter (3 foot)-tall bird weighs...

Windblown: huge clouds packed with desert dust churn across earth's skies. Are these gritty clouds dangerous?
October 3, 2005... DID YOU KNOW? * In 1988, residents of the Caribbean islands were surprised to see African locusts dropping from the sky. Scientists believe that thousands of the insects were sent airborne during a dust storm. The strong winds carried them...

Pass the bugs, please!(healthy foods)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Would you like your cicadas fried or broiled? At the central market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a woman sells the deep-fried variety. The crunchy snack is considered a delicacy to many of her customers. Why would anyone munch on insects? In...

Birdbath?(animal grooming)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... ANSWERS Visitors to the wild animal park in Shenzhen, China, last spring saw a smartly dressed rhesus monkey pick lice from the feathers of a parrot. Turns out, the 10 kilogram (22 pound) primate is an expert groomer. It has opposable...

Tease your brain.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... There are five cookies on a plate and five hungry people. How can you divvy up the cookies so that each person has one cookie and there is still one cookie left on the plate? ANSWERS The first four people take one cookie each. The...

Science news.(CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING)
October 3, 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. To leap across the Great Wall of China, skateboarder Danny Way started high up on a J-shaped ramp...

Animals in trouble.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... In "Who Dunnit?" (p. 8), you learned that poaching and the illegal sale of wild animals and their body parts further harm already endangered and threatened species. To combat this problem, many nations joined forces in 1973 to create the...

Up, up, and away!(learn through fun)
October 3, 2005... You read in "Lift Off!" (p. 12) that one cubic meter of helium has enough buoyant force to lift about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds). Now, with a few simple calculations, you can figure out how many balloons you'll need to lift some everyday objects....

Ski hut.(EARTH/POLAR REGIONS)(research base designed on skis)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... DIVIDED: The new research base will have different sections that serve as housing and science labs. Britain's new Antarctic research station is no ordinary science lab. When completed in 2008, the entire base--called Halley VI--will be...

Winging it.(PHYSICAL/SOUND)(birds sing)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... One South American rain-forest bird is quite the ventriloquist--"singing" with its mouth closed. Now, scientists have found that the club-winged manakin's trick is in its wings, which flap at 106 beats per second. Kimberly Bostwick, an...

Who's the fakes?(humanlike robot)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... She smiles and appears to breathe. Repliee Q1, an android, has been called the world's most humanlike robot. When someone touches Repliee's "skin," sensors send signals to an attached computer. A special software program, which directs the...

Sunset delay.(EARTH/EARTH'S ROTATION)(saving our daylight hours and energy use)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... Get ready: October 30 marks the end of daylight saving time. But the fall ritual of turning the clocks back will soon be postponed by one week. The hope: That people will save energy by making better use of autumn's daylight hours. Because...

Great pumpkin.(GRAPH IT/LIFE)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... Last October, farmer Alan Eaton grew a jack-o-lantern carver's dream: the world's biggest pumpkin. To grow the 656 kilogram (1,446 pound) whopper, Eaton started with a seed from a jumbo pumpkin. Why? Parents pass traits, or inherited...

Sweet sorrow.(LIFE/DNA)(cats don't like sweet food)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... While most animals savor sweet-tasting foods, cats generally shun sugary treats. A new study shows why: The sugar detectors on their taste buds don't work. The cells in taste buds have tiny structures that detect chemical signals in foods....

Life in the fast lane: how scientists are making the world's fastest sport safer.(PHYSICAL ENERGY AND MOTION)
October 24, 2005... DID YOU KNOW? * Because of its extreme speed during a race, a stock car can become airborne when it rotates during a crash. In 1994, NASCAR introduced roof flaps to stock cars. Whenever a car turns 140 degrees, the flaps flip up. This...

Volcanic park: some of the world's largest volcanic eruptions have blasted Yellowstone National Park. Discover what scientists know about these supervolcanoes.(EARTH VOLCANOES)
October 24, 2005... DID YOU KNOW? * Scientists know that Yellowstone's volcano is active from these signs: 1,000 to 3,000 earthquakes occur there each year; the area also features active ground deformation and more than 10,000 thermal features. *...

Night fright: scientists look past an animal's spooky appearances in a quest to protect it.(LIFE PRIMATES)
October 24, 2005... DID YDU KNDW? * Animal conservation in the United States has also been affected by folklore. "People still commonly believe that bats can get caught in your hair," says Barbara French of Bats Conservation International. This belief may...

Hands-on science: (no lab required).
October 24, 2005... After reading "Night Fright" (p. 14), try out this activity to learn how sound waves help aye-ayes locate food. PREDICT Suppose you were to tap on a large hollow object and on a similar, but smaller hollow object. How would the sounds...

Methamphetamine: Toxic. Addictive. Devastating. Get the facts!(HEADS UP: REAL NEWS ABOUT DRUGS AND YOUR BODY)
October 24, 2005... Also known as "meth" or "ice," this highly addictive and brain-altering drug is a threatening scourge on individuals, families, and communities. Big Heads Up: Across the United States, methamphetamine is wielding widespread damage in its...

Flooded! How one southern city was destined for disaster.(EARTH WETLANDS)
October 24, 2005... DID YOU KNOW? * In 1953, U.S. scientists began naming hurricanes using women's names in alphabetical order throughout the season. In 1979, meteorologists began alternating men's and women's names. The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not used...

Pulpy plunge.(GROSS OUT)(tomato-throwing festival)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... This guy has gotten into a juicy mess. Last summer, he joined thousands of people as they hurled tomatoes at each other at an annual tomato-throwing festival in Spain. This isn't your average food fight: In preparation for the festival,...

Explain this!(Activities & Oddities)(giant sculptures)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... Mini Biker? ANSWERS Last June, this man taking a leisurely bike ride in London's Hampstead Heath was dwarfed by a giant table-and-chair sculpture. Italian artist Giancarlo Neri constructed the 9 meter (30 foot)-high sculpture--called...

Tease your brain.(Activities & Oddities)
October 24, 2005... Can you rearrange the numbers in this figure so that no two consecutive numbers touch? They can't touch side by side, up and down, or diagonally. ANSWERS [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Science news resources.(LESSON PLANS)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... For more information related to this issue's news stories, check out the following Web sites: Ski Hunt See more images of Halley VI, and read a Q&A with its architect at: www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/050721/ 21antarctica.htm...

Science news.(CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING)
October 24, 2005... 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. A massive sheet of floating ice is called a(n) (A) iceberg. (B) glacier. (C) calve....

Marble racers.(HANDS-ON AND MATH ACTIVITY)
October 24, 2005... In "Life in the Fast Lane" (p. 8), you learned that a stock car's hefty mass plays a role in its racing momentum. Follow this two-part activity to t'md out how momentum works. Part 1: Understanding Momentum Complete this activity to...

Blown away.(CHART-READING SKILLS)(measuring hurricanes damage)
October 24, 2005... All hurricanes are potentially dangerous to human life and property. But some are more dangerous than others. In the 1970s, the Saffir-Simpson scale categorized the destructive potential of a hurricane for the first time. To determine a...