Science News articles from April 2003

Science News archives from April 2003

Solid proof offered for famous conjecture. (Spheres in Disguise).(Grigori Perelman proves Poincare conjecture)
April 26, 2003... A Russian mathematician may have finally cracked one of the most famous problems in mathematics: the Poincare conjecture, a question about the shapes of three-dimensional spaces. If his work is correct, it will make him eligible for a $1...

Classic partnership isn't so tidy after all. (Fig-Wasp Upset).(research indictes two species of wasp pollinate fig species)
April 26, 2003... Textbooks that marvel over an extreme example of the buddy system--fig species that supposedly each pair up with a lone pollinating wasp species--may need rewriting, according to a new genetic analysis. In four out of eight fig species...

Rain forests may slow their growth in warmer world. (Feel the Heat).
April 26, 2003... During a long-term research project in a Central American rain forest, mature trees grew more slowly in warm years than they did in cooler ones. This observation hints that tropical forests may become less efficient at removing planet-warming...

Mutation causes early-aging syndrome. (Genetic Clue to Aging?).(Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome )
April 26, 2003... Why does the human body deteriorate as a person ages? Two research teams have found a new clue to this longstanding mystery. Both groups have identified a mutation that causes children to suffer a form of accelerated aging that usually results...

Ancestors go South.(Australopithecus fossils found in South Africa date to 4 milion years ago)(Brief Article)
April 26, 2003... Some of the oldest fossils in the human evolutionary family--including the skull and upper-arm bone shown above--come from South Africa, according to a study in the April 25 Science. A mix of new and already excavated Australopithecus...

New material responds to growing tissue. (Bone Fix).(researchers using synthetic polymers as scaffolding materials to encourage growth of bone tissues)
April 26, 2003... Surgeons routinely harvest fragments from a healthy part of a patient's skeleton to repair wrecked bones elsewhere. This surgical step causes pain and expense that some researchers aim to eliminate by using a new bone-forming strategy that has...

Cracking the puzzle of elastic solids' toughness. (Blunt Answer).
April 26, 2003... Soft, springy materials like rubber and skin don't tear easily because they stretch before breaking apart. For decades, however, detailed understanding of how that stretchiness toughens these materials has eluded researchers. Now,...

SARS virus' genome hints at independent evolution. (Out of China).(severe acute respiratory syndrome)
April 26, 2003... The newly deciphered genome of the pathogen responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) suggests that the virus is the product of a long and private evolutionary history. Since emerging from southern China in February, SARS has...

Eye of the tiger: discovery about gem's structure overturns old theory.(research indicates tiger's-eye chatoyancy arises from crocidolite fibers)
April 26, 2003... In London in the mid-1870s, 25 shillings--about $85 in today's terms--went a long way. You could buy 7 grams of gold, 40 liters of rum, or about a half kilogram of opium. Where you couldn't get a bargain, however, was the jewelry store. That...

A rocky start: fresh take on life's oldest story.(iron sulfide theory for origin of life)
April 26, 2003... In the dark ocean depths, kilometers beneath the waves, scalding water spews from hydrothermal vents as it has for billions of years. Bubbling up at the breaks between Earth's plates, that water is a searing brew of minerals dominated by black...

Digital cells: computer circuits made of genes may soon program bacteria.
April 26, 2003... Imagine a future in which a single drop of water holds a veritable army of living robots; in which people download software updates not for their computers, but for their bacteria; and in which specially programmed cells course through a...

Chicks open wide, ultraviolet mouths. (Zoology).(researchers use ultraviolet reflection to study colors of mouths of baby birds)(Brief Article)
April 26, 2003... The first analysis of ultraviolet (UV) reflections from the mouths of begging baby birds has revealed a remarkable display that birds can see but people can't. The colors of chick mouths have attracted much scientific interest, says Sarah...

Traces of lead cause outsize harm. (Environment).(research indicates minute traces of lead in blood harm children)(Brief Article)
April 26, 2003... Minute amounts of lead in blood are worse for children than scientists had realized, according to new research. Data now suggest that lead affects development of kids' thinking skills at concentrations below 10 micrograms per deciliters...

Little vessels react to magnetic switch. (Biomedicine).(research indicates blood vessels respond to magnets)(Brief Article)
April 26, 2003... In laboratory animals, a magnet can act like a switch to either open or constrict tiny blood vessels, researchers report. Although preliminary, their study suggests the prospect of using magnets to alter blood flow in damaged tissue. To...

Prenatal nicotine: a role in SIDS? (Environment).(sudden infant death syndrome)(Brief Article)
April 26, 2003... Babies whose moms smoke during pregnancy are five times as likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than are nonsmokers' infants, notes Ralph E. Fregosi of Arizona State University in Tucson. In studies with rodents, he and Zili...

Athletes develop whey-better muscles. (Physiology).(research indicates dietary supplements that combine creatine with whey proteins have muscle-building benefits)(Brief Article)
April 26, 2003... Shops that cater to body builders sell large volumes of dietary supplements, especially products that combine the natural compound creatine with whey protein, a waste product of cheese making. Despite the supplements' popularity, "no study had...

Teen taters, too. (Epidemiology).(research links teenage obesity to insufficient physical activity)(Brief Article)
April 26, 2003... Plenty of recent studies have chronicled an epidemic of obesity in the United States. Although adults have been chided for not exercising enough, many researchers have blamed the growing girth of adolescents on their love of junk food and soft...

Cracking the Genome: Inside the Race to Unlock Human DNA.(Book Review)
April 26, 2003... KEVIN DAVIES As founding editor of the journal Nature Genetics, Davies has tracked one of the most important scientific stories ever to unfold, the mapping of the human genome. Firsthand accounts of work in the government program run by...

Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: the Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex.(Book Review)
April 26, 2003... OLIVIA HUDSON Move over, Ruth Westheimer and Joyce Brothers. Unlike the advice from those popular sex counselors, Dr. Tatiana isn't limited to the human lovelorn. She helps creatures--be they insect or mammal--through any number of sexual...

How to Build a Time Machine.(Book Review)
April 26, 2003... PAUL DAVIES If you want to make your way to the past, then your best bet is to find a black hole conveniently equipped with a traversable wormhole, If the future is more your style, then get on a spaceship that travels just under the speed...

Political Numeracy: Mathematical Perspectives on Our Chaotic Constitution.(Book Review)
April 26, 2003... MICHAEL MEYERSON How do the logical paradoxes revealed in Kurt Godel's incompleteness theorem explain Kenneth Starr's investigation of President Bill Clinton? HOW does chaos theory provide insight into rulings handed down by the Supreme...

Prehistoric America: a Journey Through the Ice Age and Beyond.(Book Review)
April 26, 2003... MILES BARTON, NIGEL BEAN, ET AL. Journey back in time 13,000 years and imagine the landscape and animals that the first North Americans encountered upon arrival. From the icy arctic waters to the steamy swamps of the Everglades, this book...

Secret Agents: the Menace of Emerging Infections.(Book Review)
April 26, 2003... MADELINE DREXLER While the public consciousness is saturated with fears of bioterrorism, Drexler tries to shift the focus toward emerging natural pathogens. She points to diseases carried by animals and insects, antibiotic-resistant...

Know your limits. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 26, 2003... Phthalates ("Proof of Burden," SN: 2/22/03, p. 120) have been subject to significant regulatory scrutiny by governmental agencies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show exposure levels well within the safety levels established by...

Live wire. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 26, 2003... In reference to the hands-free headsets ("Hold the Phone? Radiation from cell phones hurts rats' brains," SN: 2/22/03, p. 115), it has been shown that on the wire to a cell phone, a standing wave can exist that can penetrate deep into the...

Elephants, donkeys, and rats. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 26, 2003... "Dirty RATS: Campaign ad may have swayed voters subliminally" (SN: 2/22/03, p. 116) fails to mention the very plausible explanation that was offered at the time by those who produced the Republican campaign ad. Namely, that they were using a...

Researchers predict, then produce superior titanium alloys. (Invent by Number).
April 19, 2003... Ingenious people have produced alloys since ancient times. By trial and error, they mixed metals and other elements until the whole came out better than any component alone. In recent years, some scientists have said that alloy development is a...

In reactors and nanotubes, errant atoms get a grip. (Between the Sheets).
April 19, 2003... Reach out and touch each other. That's something that carbon atoms in adjoining layers within graphite aren't supposed to do--even in the cores of nuclear reactors where graphite blocks take a beating from neutron radiation. New...

Snippets of DNA persist in soil for millennia. (Fertile Ground).
April 19, 2003... Minuscule samples of sediment from New Zealand and Siberia have yielded bits of DNA from dozens of animals and plants, some long extinct. This genetic material, which includes the oldest DNA sequences yet found that can be traced to a specific...

Brain area may support fact and event memory. (Neural Recall).
April 19, 2003... A small, inner-brain region called the hippocampus boasts a well-earned reputation as a memory hub. However, researchers disagree about whether the hippocampus specializes in remembering only experiences or instead coordinates recall of both...

Plutonium leaves genetic fingerprint. (Radiation Marks Chromosomes).
April 19, 2003... By examining specific types of long-lasting genetic rearrangements in blood cells, researchers have found a way to measure a person's past exposure to plutonium radiation. Biophysicist David J. Brenner of Columbia University, who helped develop...

Now the human genome is really done. (Moving On).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... Coinciding with celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA'S double helix structure, an international consortium of scientists declared this week that the deciphering of the human genetic code is now truly complete. In...

Experimental therapy fights Parkinson's. (Protein Pump).
April 19, 2003... At first glance, people with Parkinson's disease appear to have damaged muscles, as evidenced by tremors and rigidity. But in reality, their problem is a loss of brain cells needed to produce and regulate dopamine. Among its other duties, this...

Bluegill dads: not mine? Why bother? (Fishy Paternity Defense).
April 19, 2003... Bluegill sunfish have provided an unusually tidy test of the much-discussed prediction that animal dads' diligence in child care depends on how certain they are that the offspring really are their own. When researchers presented male...

Happy anniversary: fifty years after Watson and Crick's insight, scientists continue to take a close look at DNA's double helix.
April 19, 2003... On April 25, 1953, a brief research paper appeared in the British scientific journal Nature. Fifty years later, it's one of the most famous publications of all time and often considered the start of the molecular biology and genetics revolution...

Words get in the way: talk is cheap, but it can tax your memory.
April 19, 2003... Law-enforcement officials typically solicit descriptions of criminals from eyewitnesses, often just after an offense has occurred. It stands to reason that thorough accounts by those who saw what happened will help investigators round up the...

Light rambles through room-temperature ruby. (Physics).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... In experiments over the past 2 years, physicists have been slowing laser light to a crawl, sometimes even stopping it cold within certain frigid gasses and solids. Now, researchers at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) have dramatically...

Shots stop allergic reactions to venom. (Biomedicine).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... For some people living in Australia, jack jumper ants (Myrmecia pilosula) are no picnic. Nearly 3 percent of people in the state of Tasmania, for example, are allergic to the stings of these ants. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated...

Echoes of a stellar outburst. (Astronomy).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... Like a flashbulb illuminating fog, light from the outburst of a star has revealed its dusty surroundings. The light bouncing off the dust, which astronomers call a light echo, hasn't been observed in our galaxy since 1936. The new echo has been...

Fusion device crosses threshold. (Physics).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... By sparking thermonuclear reactions, a machine simply called Z has joined the big leagues among potential technologies for producing power from controlled nuclear fusion. Thermonuclear fusion takes place when matter becomes so hot that...

Vaccine didn't cause heart deaths. (Vaccine Safety).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... Fatal heart attacks that recently struck two people after they were vaccinated against smallpox were probably unfortunate coincidences, not adverse consequences of vaccination, say epidemiologists who base their conclusion on death records from...

Africa faces new meningitis threat. (Emerging Infections).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... A previously rare, vaccine-resistant strain of a deadly bacterium caused an epidemic of meningitis last year in western Africa and seems to have spread around the world, researchers report. Three years ago, people from more than a dozen...

Transfusions and transplants spread West Nile virus. (Biomedicine).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... Donated blood and organs should be screened to prevent transmission of West Nile virus, federal officials say. In addition to bites from infected mosquitoes, which is the most common route of infection in both people and animals, blood and...

Body wraps caused rash of rashes. (Infectious Diseases).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... A CDC investigator has linked an outbreak of skin infections to unsanitary practices at a body-wrap salon. The spa, as others do, has customers exercise while tightly swathed in wet elastic bandages. Alicia Cronquist, assigned by CDC to the...

Gestures help words become memorable. (Memory).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... Hand gestures amplify the impact of spoken words, rather than serving merely as embellishment for speech, say Emily S. Cross and Elizabeth A. Franz, both of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. People recall more of what they hear...

Left brain hammers out tool use. (Neurobiology).(Brief Article)
April 19, 2003... Pounding nails with a hammer, sawing wood, and wielding other familiar tools are feats coordinated by the brain's left hemisphere, new studies suggest. "The left hemisphere may maintain knowledge about how to use objects that serve as...

Faster Than the Speed of Light: the Story of a Scientific Speculation.(Book Review)
April 19, 2003... JOAO MAGUEIJO In his general theory of relativity, Albert Einstein postulated that light travels at one speed only, a concept that physicists almost universally have accepted. Magueijo, a professor of theoretical physics at Imperial...

The Gardener's Weather Bible: How to Predict and Prepare for Garden Success in Any Kind of Weather.(Book Review)
April 19, 2003... SALLY ROTH Roth embraces the rain. So much so, she writes, that she's in her garden at the first drop, busily transplanting, weeding, and sowing new seeds. That way, she takes advantage of the moist soil and air and avoids the sunlight...

Our Cosmic Habitat.(Book Review)
April 19, 2003... MARTIN REES Albert Einstein once asked, "Could God have made the world any differently?" Renowned theoretical astrophysicist Rees answers that question, "Yes." As he did in a series of lectures at Princeton University, Rees argues here on...

Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the Border Between Science and Spirituality.(Book Review)
April 19, 2003... JOHN HORGAN In his 1997 book The End of Science, Horgan briefly considered whether mystical experiences might yield insights that could transcend what we can learn through objective investigation. Although he feared that this topic...

The X in Sex: How the X Chromosome Controls our Lives.(Book Review)
April 19, 2003... DAVID BAINBRIDGE Up until the sixth week after conception, all embryos are sexually the same. How then do we become male or female? The answer lies in the X and Y chromosomes, with males getting one of each and females getting two Xs....

Fat chance. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 19, 2003... "Dietary Dilemmas" (SN: 2/8/03, p. 88) makes disturbing use of Neal Barnard as a spokesman warning against the high-protein weight-loss diet. Barnard represents Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine (PCRM). What's not to love about an...

New and improved. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 19, 2003... "Synthetic molecule may treat anemia" (SN: 2/15/03, p. 109) reports that chemically synthesized erythropoiesis protein (SEP) was more effective than the genetically engineered molecule. Is there speculation on why that is? ANN DERSHOWITZ,...

Take dot. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 19, 2003... I am puzzled by Shuming Nie's prognostication that quantum dots will "be the first example of nanotechnology that can really have some practical applications" ("Nanolights! Camera! Action!" SN: 2/15/0& p. 107). Colloidal gold particles of...

Exotic processes probe the heart of matter. (Rare Events).
April 12, 2003... Physicists have for the first time unambiguously detected and measured the rates of certain rare reactions among protons, neutrons, and simple atomic nuclei, possibly opening a novel window onto the deepest nature of matter. At Canada's...

Using distant galaxies to study the early universe. (Once Upon a Time in the Cosmos).
April 12, 2003... Peering far back in time, two teams of astronomers say they've found some of the universe's earliest galaxies. The findings suggest that less than a billion years after the Big Bang, some galaxies were already minting the equivalent of several...

All that flash puts birds at extra risk. (Costly Sexiness).(how colors of birds affects their survival)
April 12, 2003... In many bird species, a male's plumagediffers from a female's, notes Paul F. Doherty Jr. of Colorado State University in Fort Collins. After analyzing 21 years of birdwatchers' records across the United States, Doherty and his colleagues report...

Rock climbing cuts mollusk diversity. (At a Snail's Place).
April 12, 2003... As rock climbing soars in popularity, some cliff-side snail populations may be crashing, according to new research. While focusing attention on cliff ecosystems, the finding is also instigating debates about tougher climbing regulations. A...

Seeds of cancer in transplant recipients are traced back to donors. (Deadly Stowaways).
April 12, 2003... An organ transplant gives many people a second chance at life, but the harsh drugs required for staving off immune rejection of the new tissues seem to hike a recipient's risk of cancer. For someone desperately in need of a heart or liver, this...

Gene may signal ancient prion-disease outbreaks. (Cannibalism's DNA Trail).
April 12, 2003... Cannibalism among prehistoric humans may have left lasting genetic marks, a team of scientists contends. Their controversial argument hinges on a link between specific DNA mutations and a disease that afflicted South Pacific villagers who...

Chemical guides germ cells to gonads. (Putting Out the Welcome Mat).
April 12, 2003... Even though it only covers a few millimeters, the trip can take several days. In the mouse embryo, cells that spawn sperm or eggs must travel from where they arise to their destination in the developing gonads. A Japanese research team has...

Liberty's smooth move.(Liberty Bell to be moved to new home)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2003... Workers briefly lifted Philadelphia's 2,000-pound Liberty Bell off its supports last month, giving the icon a taste of the stresses it will encounter this fall when it moves 300 yards to a new home. Last week, the National Science Foundation...

Cultivating weeds: is your yard a menace to parks and wild lands?
April 12, 2003... In 1985, shortly after buying a heavily shaded home in one of Washington, D.C.'s northern suburbs, I installed 35 liriope plants (Liriope muscari), also known as turf lilies. Gardening books recommend these East Asian, shade-tolerant border...

The stone masters: toolmakers at work and children at play reflect ancient technology.
April 12, 2003... In the Indonesian island village of Langda, located on Irian Jaya near its border with Papua New Guinea, a half-dozen men sit in an open space, chipping fragments out of rocks. It's not rocket science, but it's a veritable rock science still...

Microbicide thwarts AIDS virus in monkey test. (Immunology).(Brief Article)
April 12, 2003... Experimental medicines containing human-derived antibodies to HIV are partially effective in stopping transmission of the virus, according to tests in rhesus macaque monkeys. The new study, in the March Nature Medicine, suggests that such...

Mapping watersheds invites comparisons. (Environment).(Brief Article)
April 12, 2003... Computerized maps of environmental features for 154 of the largest river watersheds around the globe will soon be available to the public, free of charge. A group of research and conservation groups unveiled a draft of the interactive database...

All-sky survey makes Internet debut. (Astronomy).(celestial map available online)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2003... Last month, an atlas of some 5 million images from the celestial map known as the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) became available online (http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/gallery). It's the most detailed high-resolution survey of the entire...

Weight-loss pill carries risks. (Biomedicine).(ephedra)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2003... An analysis of past research on ephedra, an over-the-counter dietary supplement, indicates that the pill leads to modest weight loss but poses significant dangers to health. Those include psychiatric problems and a wide range of physical harm,...

Catnip repels pest. (Natural Products).(Brief Article)
April 12, 2003... Catnip may be the cat's meow, but the plant's oil repels roaches and mosquitoes (SN: 9/8/01, p. 148). Now, the entomologist who discovered this insect-harassing power of catnip, Chris Peterson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest...

Nuclear-waste monitoring gets close to the source. (Analytical Chemistry).
April 12, 2003... Some forms of nuclear radiation--such as the beta-emission from radioactive technetium-99--are particularly difficult to detect underground, partly because the radiation doesn't travel very far. A new prototype instrument may make this and...

Matcha green tea packs the antioxidants. (Food Chemistry).(Brief Article)
April 12, 2003... Some nutritionists have suggested that matcha, the green tea prepared during Japanese tea ceremonies, might offer more health benefits than the green tea most people drink in the United States. Until now, however, there was little scientific...

Contacts could dispense drugs. (Drug Delivery).(contact lenses)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2003... Eye medication usually comes in drops. That's not good, says Anuj Chauhan. Only about 5 percent of the medicine treats the eye. The rest drains into the body, where it can reach the bloodstream and cause complications. Better, Chauhan says,...

Consider the Leaf: Foliage in Garden Design.(Book Review)
April 12, 2003... JUDY GLATTSTEIN After the flowers, then what? How do you keep a garden interesting? Foliage, declares Glattstein. She encourages gardeners to plant with an emphasis on leaf form, texture, and color that will maintain the garden's vibrancy...

The Dependent Gene: The Fallacy of "Nature vs. Nurture".(Book Review)
April 12, 2003... DAVID S. MOORE According to the author, it's wrong to consider just nurture or just nature when evaluating human traits. Moore, a psychologist, argues that "all traits--from 'biological' ones such as hair color and height to complex...

The Nature of Science: An A-Z Guide to the Laws and Principles Governing Our Universe.(Book Review)
April 12, 2003... JAMES TREFIL This tlandy reference gives quick and concise overviews of important scientific concepts. Essays of no more than three pages succinctly provide historical background, as well as descriptive text, about ideas ranging from...

The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats: A Journey into the Feline Heart.(Book Review)
April 12, 2003... JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASON Cats have a reputation as being indifferent and aloof creatures that don't exhibit much of an emotional life. Mason believes this is a bad rap because cats are almost pure emotion. Several years ago, this...

Silent Witness: How Forensic Anthropology Is Used to Solve the World's Toughest Crimes.(Book Review)
April 12, 2003... ROXANA FERLLINI In 29 case studies, Ferllini explains the methods that she and other forensic anthropologists use to identify corpses and recreate death scenes. Sometimes this task is daunting. In the case of the missing body of South...

Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order.(Book Review)
April 12, 2003... STEVEN STROGATZ It is in the very nature of the universe for its elements to be in sync. The moon spins in perfect resonance with its orbit around Earth. The pendulums on clocks alongside one another swing together, Such spontaneous order...

Devil of a question. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 12, 2003... I scuba dive, and I've noticed that when the current is brisk through some coral formations, small swirls behave exactly as dust devils ("Dust devils produce magnetic fields," SN: 2/8/03, p. 94). Would the researchers predict that any magnetic...

Driven to distraction. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 12, 2003... I wish the testing described in "Cell phones distract drivers, hands down" (SN: 2/8/03, p. 94) had used airline pilots, policemen, and other people who are accustomed to operating their machines while carrying on a conversation. Cell phones are...

MS and G? (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 12, 2003... "Essence of G" (SN: 2/8/03, p. 92) refers to "the current theory that high intelligence arises from the coating of brain cells with especially large amounts of the fatty substance called myelin." As a person with multiple sclerosis, anything...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
April 12, 2003... "At last, a bird that nails killer chicks" (SN: 3/29/03, p. 206) misspells the genus name for Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo. It should have been Chrysococcyx basalis.

Cannibal dinosaur known by its bones. (Family Meal).(Majungatholus atopus)
April 5, 2003... Some carnivorous dinosaurs routinely fed on their own species, according to an analysis of scarred fossils. Paleontologists contend the ancient gnaw marks are among the strongest evidence yet that some dinosaurs indeed were cannibals. ...

Drug slows Alzheimer's in severely ill patients. (Progress Against Dementia).(memantine)
April 5, 2003... A drug already sold in Europe hampers the relentless assault of late-stage Alzheimer's disease, a new study reveals. The finding suggests that the drug, called memantine, could help patients previously considered untreatable. "This is...