USA TODAY articles from June 2007

USA TODAY archives from June 2007

Twin-star systems enjoy double sunset.(Planets)
June 1, 2007... The double sunset that Luke Skywalker gazed upon in the film "Star Wars" might not be a fantasy, as astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have observed that certain celestial systems--containing dusty disks of asteroids, comets, and,...

Cat's eye implants may help humans see.(Ophthalmology)
June 1, 2007... In "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Geordi La Forge is a blind character who can see through the assistance of special implants. While the Star Trek character "lives" in the 24th century, people existing in the 21st century may not have to...

Newly discovered planet all steamed up.(Hubble Telescope)(designated HD209458b planet)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The powerful vision of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has allowed astronomers to study for the first time the layer-cake structure of the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. Hubble discovered a dense upper layer of hot hydrogen gas...

A bumpy shift from icehouse to greenhouse.(Climate Trends)
June 1, 2007... The transition from an ice age to an ice-free planet was highly unstable, marked by dips and rises in carbon dioxide, extreme swings in climate, and drastic effects on tropical vegetation, according to a study by the University of California,...

Meteorites.(SCIENCE SCENE)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Meteorites--metallic or stony objects that fall to Earth from outer space--hold many clues into the creation and evolution of the solar system, says Michael Lipschutz, professor of inorganic chemistry and cosmochemistry at Purdue University,...

The world's fish populations.(SCIENCE SCENE)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The world's fish populations increasingly are endangered from overfishing, pollution, and overconsumption, maintains a study from the Worldwatch Institute, Washington, D.C., which reports that major fish species, including tuna, scallops,...

For the first time, physicists have devised a way to make visible light travel in the opposite direction than it normally bends when passing from one material to another, like from air through water or glass.(SCIENCE SCENE)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... For the first time, physicists have devised a way to make visible light travel in the opposite direction than it normally bends when passing from one material to another, like from air through water or glass. The phenomenon, known as negative...

The structure of an enzyme.(SCIENCE SCENE)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The structure of an enzyme essential for the operation of "molecular motors" that package DNA into the head segment of some viruses during their assembly has been discovered by researchers at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C....

Armor-piercing projectiles.(SCIENCE SCENE)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Armor-piercing projectiles made of depleted uranium have caused concern among soldiers storing and using them. Now, scientists at the Department of Energy's Ames (Iowa) Laboratory are close to developing a new composite with an internal...

The first working "invisibility cloak".(SCIENCE SCENE)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The first working "invisibility cloak"--which deflects microwave beams so they flow around a "hidden" object inside with little distortion, making it appear almost as if nothing was there at all--has been demonstrated by engineers at Duke...

A simple, affordable household filtration device.(SCIENCE SCENE)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... A simple, affordable household filtration device can reduce the incidence of diarrhea--one of the leading causes of disease and death in developing countries--by up to 40%, researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, have...

Global warming limits wildfire management.(Greenhouse Effect)
June 1, 2007... Changes in climate will limit humans' ability to manage wildland fire and apply prescribed fire across the landscape, claims a report from the Association for Fire Ecology, San Diego, Calif. "Under future drought and high-heat scenarios, fires...

Can trees offset carbon footprint?(Global Warming)
June 1, 2007... How effective are new trees in off-setting the carbon footprint? A study by Lawrence Livermore (Calif.) National Laboratory suggests that the location of the new growth is an important factor when considering such carbon offset projects. For...

Gregor Mendel: planting the seeds of genetics.(Botany)
June 1, 2007... The life and work of 19th-century friar Gregor Mendel, a former high school teacher whose experiments were ignored by the scientific community for decades, is the subject of an exhibition now touring the country. For eight years, Mendel...

North Atlantic salinity linked to tropics.(Ice Age)
June 1, 2007... Sudden shifts in temperature over Greenland and tropical rainfall patterns during the last ice age have been linked for the first time to rapid changes in the salinity of the North Atlantic Ocean. This research provides further solid evidence...

Coastal wetlands can adapt to rising oceans.(Tidal Marshes)
June 1, 2007... Tidal marshes, which nurture marine life and reduce storm damage along many coastlines, should be able to adjust to rising sea levels and avoid being inundated and lost--if their vegetation is not damaged and their supplies of upstream sediment...

Fruit flies losing sense of smell.(Agricultural Pests)
June 1, 2007... The specialist fruit fly Drosophila sechellia is losing genes for smell and taste receptors 10 times faster than its generalist relative Drosophila simulans, according to population biology graduate student Carolyn McBride of the University of...

Wheat can starve insect predators.(Crops)(Hessian fly)
June 1, 2007... A newly identified wheat gene produces proteins that appear to attack the stomach lining of a crop-destroying fly larvae so that the bugs starve to death. The gene's role in creating resistance to Hessian flies was a surprise to researchers at...

Solving the mysteries of history through science.(Forensics)
June 1, 2007... "At 'History Detectives,' relying on cutting-edge scientific research applications in a real and concrete way has resulted in some of our most exciting discoveries," says Chris Bryson, executive producer for Lion Television. "The historian's...

Is vaccine finally in the offing?(West Nile Virus)
June 1, 2007... West Nile virus evades the body's defenses by blocking immune signaling by a protein receptor, a finding that could pave the way for a vaccine to protect against North American strains of the disease, report researchers from the University of...

Overblown concern for energy security.(Oil Reserves)
June 1, 2007... From Pres. Bush's worry about America's "addiction to oil" to the debate surrounding alternative fuels, the U.S.'s alleged vulnerability to foreign oil producers is a major part of the national security debate. Yet, a policy analysis from the...

The unknown Audubons: mammals of North America.(NATURAL HISTORY)
June 1, 2007... The American Museum of Natural History's Audubon Gallery has been refurbished and reopened, providing a setting almost as stunningly dramatic as the art on display. Dark double doors open to an elegant salon-style hall, with high, white...

Are untapped reserves there for the taking?(Natural Gas)(gas reserves)
June 1, 2007... While oil is a finite resource--at least in the short term of thousands, rather than hundreds of millions, of years--some of the largest natural gas reserves in the world are biogenic, which means they are being created by microbes today and...

Plant cells may increase ethanol yields.(Green Fuels)
June 1, 2007... Particles from cornstalks undergo what previously were unknown structural changes when processed to produce ethanol, an insight researchers say will help establish a viable method for large-scale production of ethanol from plant matter. It has...

Dinosaurs and chickens look to be linked.(Fossils)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... In a venture once thought to lie outside the reach of science, researchers have captured and sequenced tiny pieces of collagen protein from a 68,000,000-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex. The seven protein fragments appear to match most closely amino...

How cosmic collisions shaped life on Earth.(Outer Space)
June 1, 2007... "Cosmic Collisions" features stunning images from space and breathtaking visualizations based on cutting-edge scientific data--many seen for the first time--revealing the explosive encounters that shaped our solar system, changed the course of...

Earliest multicellular animals uncovered.(Embryonic Fossils)
June 1, 2007... Fossilized embryos predating the Cambrian Explosion by 10,000,000 years provide evidence that early animals already had begun to adopt some of the structures and processes seen in today's embryos, say researchers from Amherst (Mass.) College...

New-growth forests have different look.(Topography)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The great forests that once covered the eastern U.S. almost completely were cut down by settlers who needed open land for farming and timber for construction. When some areas proved unsuitable for agriculture, such as flood plains and steep...

"Abundant-center" hypothesis just a myth.(Ecology)
June 1, 2007... There is little empirical evidence to support a widely held ecological assumption that species are most abundant near the centers of their geographic ranges and decline in number near the ranges' edges, according to a report from Duke...

Tons of submerged fishing gear found.(Marine Life)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Scuba divers helped recover nearly 10 tons of lost and abandoned fishing gear from the waters around the California Channel Islands in the first year of a unique project based at the University of California, Davis. The cleanup included nearly...

Early humans moved from Africa to Eastern Europe.(Anthropology)
June 1, 2007... New evidence that modern humans moved out of Africa and occupied parts of Eastern Europe as early as 45,000 years ago has been uncovered by a team of American and Russian scientists. Vance T. Holliday, a University of Arizona, Tucson, professor...

"Catch shares" key to restoring growth.(Fish Populations)
June 1, 2007... A road map for rebuilding stocks and restoring fishing communities is provided by the results of a study from Environmental Defense, Washington, D.C., which details how Limited Access Privilege Programs (LAPPs), or "catch shares," offer...

Agricultural activity dependent on ancient markers.(Archaeology)
June 1, 2007... In one of the most significant archaeological and anthropological finds in recent history, Robert Benfer, professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, has discovered the earliest astronomical alignments and...

Hay fever wreaks havoc on productivity.(Allergies)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Employers can blame hay fever for the loss of millions of hours of work productivity this year. A study of people with hay fever symptoms, including sneezing, watery eyes, and runny and itchy noses, found that workers missed an hour of work per...

Signs of recovery in atmospheric ozone.(Ultraviolet Radiation)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Various concentrations of atmospheric ozone--which protects Earth from the sun's ultraviolet radiation--are displaying signs of recovery in the most important regions of the stratosphere above the mid-latitudes in the Northern and Southern...

Improved detection of airborne threats.(Pathogens)
June 1, 2007... Current methods used to sniff out dangerous airborne pathogens wrongly may suggest that there is no threat to health when, in reality, there may be. However, researchers have found a better method for collecting and analyzing these germs that...

Rising sea levels to impact Asia most.(Climate Change)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The first global study to identify worldwide populations at the greatest risk from rising sea levels and more intense cyclones as a result of climate change was conducted by scientists at Columbia University's Center for International Earth...

Prehistoric hurricane activity uncovered.(Windstorms)(introducing paleotempestology or the study of prehistoric hurricanes)
June 1, 2007... Hurricanes Katrina and Rita focused the international spotlight on the vulnerability of the U.S. coastline. Fears that a "super-hurricane" could make a direct hit on a major city and cause even more staggering losses of life, land, and economy...

Fingerprint matching techniques seed reform.(Criminology)(Critical essay)
June 1, 2007... Fingerprint matches--key to fighting international terrorism and keeping criminals off the street--no longer are foolproof, warns Edward Imwinkelried, professor of law at the University of California, Davis. He contends that the reliability of...

Hurricane damage soars.(Typhoons)
June 1, 2007... Damage from hurricanes is soaring off the charts, bankrupting insurance companies and depriving property owners of insurance in high-risk areas. During the 1960s, worldwide damage from windstorms with economic losses of $1,000,000,000 or more...