Science World articles from September 2002

Science World archives from September 2002

Killer ants make peace. (Life News).
September 13, 2002... What can the world learn from the planet's largest insect colony, or social community? Plenty, like how to get along. In May 2001, French biologist Tatiana Giraud discovered a colossal ant colony stretching 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) along...

Forming an ant nest. (Science News).
September 13, 2002... 1 Arrival of the Queen After mating with a male ant, the queen ant sheds her wings and digs a cavity in soil or wood to lay eggs. She will never mate again; her body can store enough sperm (male sex cells to fertilize her eggs for a...

Six feet under. (Freeze Frame).
September 13, 2002... Last spring, archaeologists unearthed a massive Incan grave-yard sunk beneath the impoverished town of Puruchuco, Peru. Their payoff: It may be the biggest stash of mummies, or well-preserved human corpses, ever found from a single historical...

Calcium crisis. (Graph It!).
September 13, 2002... Trade in calcium-rich milk for soda or sports drinks, and what do you get? A calcium crisis! In the U.S., only 13.5 percent of girls and 36.3 percent of boys ages 12 to 19 get enough of the bone-building mineral (a natural inorganic substance...

Walk `n' roll. (Physical News).
September 13, 2002... Tired of your skateboard? Over your rollerblades? Check out Heelys, the radical new sneakers with a stealth wheel in each heel. "You can walk, you can roll, and with a simple transition of weight onto your heels, you can even dance," says...

Featherweight. (Tech News).
September 13, 2002... IMAGINE a fridge-size hunk of solid--a state of matter with mass and volume made up of tightly bound molecules--that weighs just one pound and can hold up the weight of a Honda Civic. NASA is perfecting the world's lightest known solid, a hazy...

Gladiator. (Short Take).
September 13, 2002... This savage-looking insect, dubbed "the gladiator," marks the first new order (a category used to classify related groups) of insects discovered in 87 years. The 4-centimeter (1.6-inch) long wingless bug, a cross between a mantis and stick...

Secrets of the womb: life's most mind-blowing journey: from single cell to baby in just 266 days. (Life science: human reproduction/cells).
September 13, 2002... ANGELINE MARIE of Hollywood, Florida, is your typical live-wire 2-year-old, winning smiles, occasional tantrums, and all. But when she was an unborn baby growing in her mother's womb, doctors predicted she'd never be able to do what she now...

Human architects are taking inspiration from the planet's master builders--animals; termite towers: African termite (Macrotermes michaelseni). (Animal Architechs).
September 13, 2002... TERMITE TOWERS African termite (Macratermes michaelseni) WHILE WATCHING A NATURE program on TV, architect Mick Pearce found inspiration for a skyscraper in Zimbabwe--from a bug: southern Africa's mound-building termite. Millions of...

Wonder webs: Golden Orb Weaver spider (Nephila clavipes). (Animal Architects).
September 13, 2002... Spider webs are more than homes, they're ingenious traps. And the world's best web spinner may be the Golden Orb Weaver spider. The female Orb Weaver spins a web of fibers thin enough to be invisible to insect prey, yet tough enough to snare a...

Bachelor pad: Vogelkop bower bird (Amblyornis inornatus). (Animal Architects).
September 13, 2002... Male Vogelkop bower birds could give human males a few lessons on wooing chicks. These clever New Guinean birds are real romantics. They build and decorate elaborate "bachelor pads," called bowers, solely as places to entertain female bower...

Bad air day: more than 142 million Americans, or 50 percent of the U.S. population, breathe grade "F" air. The American Lung Association's state of the Air 2002 Report studied air quality in 678 counties, and 400 flunked. What's choking the air? An invisible gas--ground-level ozone. Read the graph below, then check out ozone chemistry, and test your pollution know-how. (Earth science: ozone/air pollution).
September 13, 2002... What's Bad Air? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitors air quality daily. And one major pollutant they keep an eye on is ozone. At unhealthy levels, ozone can trigger lung irritations and breathing problems in merely four hours...

Croak: what's killing these frogs? (Life/Earth science: water pollution/ecosystems).
September 13, 2002... A missing eye. An extra limb, or two--or three. An alarming number of malformed frogs are hopping all over the U.S. But these deformed amphibians--or cold-blooded vertebrates (backboned animals) that develop in water--aren't accidental freaks...

Gross out? (Activities & Oddities).
September 13, 2002... TRY PUTTING THIS on your plate. Last May, geneticist Avigdor Cahaner of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, unveiled his coop of featherless chickens. He thinks the fluff-free breed, produced by his top-secret method of crossing a small...

Tease your brain. (You Can Do It).
September 13, 2002... Can you remove four toothpicks to make four identical triangles? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

What is it? (You Can Do It).
September 13, 2002... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANSWERS Chrysochroa, a brightly colored flying bug, commonly found in Southeast Asia.

Explain this! (You Can Do It).
September 13, 2002... What dropped in from space? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANSWERS After orbiting Earth 108 times, China's Shenzhou III--the country's third unmanned space mission--landed in northern China last April. The spaceship contained a crew of...

It may not be the Oscar ... but then again, in our world it is!
September 13, 2002... Science World has won the two highest national awards in educational journalism: the EdPress 2002 Golden Lamp Award for overall excellence and the 2002 Periodical of the Year Award. The awards reflect the magazine's commitment to making...

Egg-speriment. (Hands-On Science).
September 13, 2002... The male bower bird knows how to build a sturdy home. He builds his nest with an arched doorway because an arch is one of nature's strongest shapes. When weight is placed on top of an arch, the force that the weight creates doesn't push...

Rate your air. (Chart-Reading Skills).
September 13, 2002... Ground-level ozone is a pollutant caused by car emissions, power plants, and other sources. When the ozone level is too high, it can cause coughing, throat irritation, lung damage, and other problems, particularly in children, the elderly, and...

Quiz. (Science In The News).
September 13, 2002... 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 queen Lineptthema humile ant a. mates with a male and lays...

When land goes thirsty. (Special Report).
September 27, 2002... After the rainless spring of 2002 parched Arizona, a few matches sparked the largest wildfire in the state's history. The Rodeo-Chedeski fire scorched 500,000 acres last summer, leaving ranchers like Kenny Evans of Payson, Ariz., with nothing...

Monkey business. (Freeze Frame).(Titi monkeys in Amazon rainforest)
September 27, 2002... If these two critters look bewildered, it's probably the first time they've posed for a snapshot. The two new species of titi monkeys (Callicebus bernhardi, left, Callicebus stephennashi, right) roamed undiscovered in the Amazon rainforest...

Teen biz flies high. (Physical News).(Sean Frawley and Dan Getz create Ornithopter Technologies)
September 27, 2002... High school pals Sean Frawley and Dan Getz share a passion for flying machines. But when they wanted to craft a toy ornithopter, a contraption that flies by flapping its wings, they found few build-it-yourself kits available. Far from...

The all-sports science project survival guide.(Cover Story)
September 27, 2002... Would you rather slug a bat, skip rope, bowl, even square dance before tackling your' science project? Luckily, science and sports make a great team. Why not enjoy your favorite athletic activity and whip up a home-run science project at the...

Future jocks: in the next decade, cutting-edge gene research may cure hundreds of diseases. It may also help cheating athletes build superhuman strength. (Life science: genetic engineering).
September 27, 2002... For years after he nabbed two gold medals ill the 1964 Winter Olympic Games, Eero Mantyranta was dogged by rumors of deceit: The Finnish cross-country skier had something in his blood, something that gave him an edge over the competition. ...

Life saver: can a softer baseball prevent a rare but lethal sports injury? To find out, a researcher goes to bat with the scientific method. (The Scientific Method).
September 27, 2002... Last May, 7-year-old Nader Parman of Atlanta, Ga., was playing baseball in his front yard--when tragedy struck. A lightning-fast batted ball rammed him in the chest. Incredibly, the blow occurred during the one-hundred-thousandths of a second...

Stretched to the limit? Strained for a knockout science project? Loosen up and make a plan! (Write A Procedure).(the effect of temperature on muscle relaxation)
September 27, 2002... Every year, about 3 million American kids and teens suffer sports-related injuries, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The most common damage: sprains(wounds to the tough, stretchy ligaments that connect bones) and strains...

Move it! Record it! A healthy guide to tables, graphs, and charts. (Organize The Findings).
September 27, 2002... Is your idea of exercise shifting positions while punching the TV remote? Well here's a command from the top: President George W. Bush orders you to exercise! And to help shape up the U.S., the nation's chief has launched the HealthierUS...

To make a data table. (Tables, Charts, And Graphs).
September 27, 2002... 1 Draw a blank data table. 2 Give your table a title that identifies your variables ("My Week's Physical Activity Log"). 3 Label the column on the left as the independent variable (Activity). Underneath, list types of activity you used...

To make a line graph. (Tables, Charts, And Graphs).
September 27, 2002... 1 On graph paper, draw a set of axes (x and y). 2 Give your line graph a title ("My Walking Record Over Time"). 3 Label the horizontal x-axis with your independent variable (Days of the Week) and with the values of the independent...

To make a bar graph. (Tables, Charts, And Graphs).
September 27, 2002... 1 On graph paper, draw a set of axes (x and y). 2 Give your bar graph a title ("My Average Daily Participation in Physical Activities"). 3 Label the horizontal x-axis with your independent variable (Type of Activity), including the...

To make a pie chart. (Tables, Charts, And Graphs).(physical activities or exercises )
September 27, 2002... 1 Draw a circle with a compass. 2 Give your pie chart a title ("My Four-Month Breakdown of Physical Activities"). 3 Mark the center with a point; this is where each pie "slice" or wedge, will start. 4 Measure a wedge for each...

Gross out? (Activities & Oddities).(carpet python and its jaws)
September 27, 2002... Talk about on-the-job headaches! When snake expert Peter Morningstar was called in to remove this 7 kilogram (15.5 pound), 3 meter (10 feet)-long carpet python (Morelia spilota) from a rooftop in Brisbane, Australia, he nearly got his head...

Explain this! (Activities & Oddities).(birds)
September 27, 2002... What's up with these birds?

Tease your brain. (Activities & Oddities).(dots and lines)
September 27, 2002... Can you use three straight lines to connect all four dots? Rules: You can only go through each dot once, and you can't lift your pencil off the page. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Science project success guide: designing and conducting experiments. (Lesson Plans).(includes science fair bibliography)
September 27, 2002... Resources Sure-to-Win Science Fair Projects by Joe Rhatigan and Heather Smith, Lark Books, 2001 Janice VanCleave's Guide to More of the Best Science Fair Projects by Janice Pratt VanCleave, John Wiley, 2000 100 First-Prize...

Safety first, experiment later. (Lab Safety Quiz).
September 27, 2002... The lab seems like one cool place; that's where scientists find cures for diseases or figure out why the sky is blue. But It's also loaded with potential hazards! Before you touch a microscope or test tube at your school's lab, take this quiz...

Science in the news quiz.
September 27, 2002... DIRECTIONS: Read the late-breaking news in our Science News section on pages 4 to 6. Then test your knowledge by answering the questions below. Circle the correct letter. 1. The natural role of wildfire in the ecosystem is to a....