Natural History articles from April 2002

Natural History archives from April 2002

After all these years. (Up Front).(Editorial)
April 1, 2002... I cannot look upon the Universe as the result of blind chance, yet I can see no evidence of beneficent design, or indeed design of any kind in the details. As for each variation that has ever occurred being preordained for a special end, I can...

Leaves and needles.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... I found Bernd Heinrich's "Grand Opening" ("In the Field," 2/02) very illuminating and enjoyable. Heinrich pointed out the advantage of a tree's delaying the production of leaves until the danger of frost has passed. But I have noticed that on...

Cutting remarks.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... In "The Unsung Ancients" (2/02), David W. Stahle comments on ancient trees being "sent to the guillotine" and on "out misperception of their value and our continued disregard" threatening their survival. I would prefer to read about these...

Birds in living color.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... I enjoyed reading J. Albert C. Uy's article on bowerbirds ("Say It With Bowers," 3/02) but was surprised that the author states that male Vogelkops sort the objects around the bowers by color. I thought color vision was an exclusive trait of...

Immune response.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... Like other articles I've read in recent years, T.V. Rajan's "Remembrance of Pathogens Past" ("Findings," 2/02) suggests that the devil makes work for idle immune systems, leading to autoimmune diseases. Might a solution be to create "work" for...

Riding the train.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... I liked Steven Vogel's article "A Short History of Muscle-Powered Machines" (3/02). At one time, my family had an HO model railroad circling the basement of our house, and we hooked up a bicycle on rollers as an optional power source (rigged so...

Off the map.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... The Namib Desert is on the west coast of southern Africa, not the east coast, as stated in "Beetle Juice" ("In Sum," 2/02). The dense fog that blows across this desert does come from the Atlantic Ocean but certainly doesn't have to cross the...

String theory: the tradition of spinning raw fibers dates back at least 28,000 years. (At The Museum).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Wandering one day through the Museums Hall of South American Peoples, I noticed a case with the label "Amazonian Rain Forest." Against the backdrop of a mural of bright green vegetation are all sorts of material goods from several Amazonian...

Museum events in April.
April 1, 2002... JOHN BURROUGHS ASSOCIATION Annual award ceremony and luncheon 4/1: Burroughs Medal award for nature writing (Wilderness and Razor Wire, by Ken Lamberton); Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers awards, and Natural History Essay...

Fear of foxes. (In Sum).(teaching tammar wallabies about their predators)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... As a result of predation by introduced cats and foxes, tammar wallabies are rare on mainland Australia, but plans are afoot to reintroduce them, using individuals from offshore island populations. Foxes and feral cats still roam the mainland,...

Plant economics. (In Sum).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Life can be hard for a plant whose leaves are being munched on by insects. Part of its photosynthetic machinery is lost, reducing its energy supply. To measure how this affects a plant's reproductive capacity, biologists have traditionally...

United they wave. (In Sum).(barnacles)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Safety in numbers is a principle that applies to many animal groups. Members of bird flocks and fish shoals check for predators less often and spend less time hiding in shelters than do solitary individuals. Now two researchers from Kenyon...

Trunk toolery. (In Sum).(Asian elephant )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The trunk of an Asian elephant is so exquisitely prehensile that it can pick up a dime from a concrete floor. This dexterity, coupled with a large brain, may predispose elephants to the manufacture and use of tools. Indeed, Benjamin Hart, of...

Lean, mean, and fast machine. (In Sum).(Atlantic silversides)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Atlantic silverside is a small shoaling fish that lives in estuaries all along the eastern seaboard. Northern populations have evolved a tendency to eat a lot and grow fast. Even with the same amount of food available to them, a silverside...

Knock, knock, who's there? (In Sum).(woodland caterpillars)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Biologists Jayne Yack, Myron Smith, and Patrick Weatherhead, of Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, have recently studied the remarkable drumming abilities of some woodland caterpillars. Larvae of the common hooktip moth (Drepana arcuata)...

Distinctive destinations: with so many wonderful vacation options, how do you choose the one that's right for you? The following destinations offer a unique combination of natural and cultural attractions. (Special Advertising Section).
April 1, 2002... Scotland Scotland's combination of beautiful scenery and art and culture make it one of Europe's most desirable destinations, but it is especially alluring for naturalists. Whether you are a birdwatcher, a whale watcher, or just a general...

West Virginia: this spring as the snow begins to melt, discover the beauty of West Virginia. (Advertisement).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Whitewater rafting is an amazing way to see this beautiful state, and the rivers of Southern West Virginia (800-VISIT-WV) offer some of the best whitewater rafting east of the Colorado. Take a trip down the "Grand Canyon of the East," the New...

Parks and pools: a southern California reserve protects vanishing habitats. (This Land).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Southeast of Los Angeles, the Santa Ana Mountains extend northwest to southeast for approximately forty miles. Though the Santa Anas' highest point is 5,687-foot Santiago Peak, the elevation along the crest of this narrow range averages about...

The five points of Lagrange: at some very special spots in the Earth-Moon gravitational system, all forces are in balance. (Universe).
April 1, 2002... The first manned spacecraft ever to leave Earth orbit was Apollo 8. This achievement remains one of the most unappreciated firsts of the twentieth century. When that moment arrived, the astronauts fired the third and final stage of their mighty...

All for one: in southern Africa, thousands of Cape buffalo offer a lesson in the ups and downs of group living.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... At the height of the dry season in Botswana's Chobe National Park, when the hot, desiccated land resembles a nuclear test site, thousands of African, or Cape, buffalo (Syncerus caffer) find relief along the floodplain of the Chobe River. As...

A diverse & marvelous collection: three centuries ago, sailors calling at the busy port of Amsterdam were commissioned by a local apothecary to bring back natural curios from distant lands.(Loccupletissimi Rerum Thesauri Accurata Descriptio)
April 1, 2002... Albertus Seba, an apothecary in early-eighteenth-century Amsterdam, was proud indeed of his collection of natural history specimens, or cabinet of curiosities. In a letter to a potential buyer, he wrote that it included "all sorts of exquisite...

A mouse's tale.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2002... IT'S A LONG AND TORTUOUS ROAD from the steppes of Asia to a rustic New England farmhouse and thence to superstardom in the world of modern science, but that is exactly the journey made over thousands of generations by the humble house mouse....

Intelligent design? (Special Report).(disputing Darwinism)
April 1, 2002... The idea that an organism's complexity is evidence for the existence of a cosmic designer was advanced centuries before Charles Darwin was born. Its best-known exponent was English theologian William Paley, creator of the famous watchmaker...

Scent wars: while one lemur takes a relaxed attitude, another seems obsessed with marking its territory. (Findings).
April 1, 2002... I still remember my anxiety the first day Ndrina Kotonirina and I hacked out way into the wall of green vegetation that is Madagascar's Mantadia National Park. But just as my French-speaking guide had promised, the forest was in pristine...

Four ears to the ground: for an elephant, the foot may be a powerful listening device. (Now Hear This).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... From time to time, leaving the American Museum of Natural History after hours, I pass the elephants in the Akeley Hall of African Mammals. They occupy the center of the room: a cluster of them, on a wide dais, milling eternally in the state of...

Twister! Hit by a gusty spring breeze, the daffodil turns its back. (Biomechanics).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Consider a field of daffodils: A carpet of gaudy yellow flowers dancing in the breeze, revealing in their movements the direction of each puff of wind. The contrast between the sunny petals and the vibrant green of the stems; the joyous waggle...

The producers: now playing: the original stars in nature's longest-running hit. (Celestial Events).(the Milky Way)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... And now it's springtime for galaxies and nebulae! No, this isn't just one more gratuitous magazine reference to the biggest Broadway hit in decades, a pathetic attempt to sprinkle a little show-biz glitter on a thoroughly unglamorous topic....

The sky in April.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Mercury begins April hiding in the Sun's glare---coming to superior conjunction on the 7th--but then moves on to its best apparition of the year. By April 18 you'll see it above the west-northwestern horizon, shining nearly as bright as Sirius...

Baseball, a Celebration.(books on baseball)
April 1, 2002... Baseball, A Celebration, by James Buckley Jr. and Jim Gigliotti (DK Publishing, 2001; $50) Baseball As America: Seeing Ourselves Through Our National Game, developed by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (National Geographic...

The human presence. (nature.net).(earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom /Newlmages/images.php3?img_id=43 33)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... In the March 1996 issue I mentioned Earth Observatory, a NASA Web site. Now I urge you to visit it again for a single new image, "Earth's City Lights" (earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom /Newlmages/images.php3?img_id=43 33). Craig Mayhew and...

Bookshelf.(briefs)(Brief Review)
April 1, 2002... The Rainbow Bridge: Rainbows in Art, Myth, and Science, by Raymond L. Lee Jr. and Alistair B. Fraser (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001; $65) A mathematician and a meteorologist team up to examine the optics of the rainbow and the...

Arms control. (The Natural Moment).(starfish observed)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Off the coast of British Columbia, a sunflower sea star prepares to spawn, using a dozen or so arms to hoist its fleshy central mass free of the seafloor. The hunched posture is typical of female stars, which shoot a stream of eggs upward to be...

Science versus religion? No contest. (Endpaper).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Why do some (only some) of those with profoundly felt religious beliefs feel threatened by aspects of the very science that has brought them the material comfort and security they appear happy to accept? Presumably it is because they think that...