domingo, 31 de julio de 2011

Science review


Coming Together to Pray, and Also to Find Reduced-Rate Energy Deals

Washington congregations are discovering ways to cut bills and support renewable power.
LIFE OUT THERE
Dr. Gerald F. Joyce with test tubes for synthesizing molecules that are self-replicating.

‘It’s Alive! It’s Alive!’ Maybe Right Here on Earth

Chemists and biologists are trying to generate the Frankensteinian spark that will jump the gap separating the inanimate and the animate.
OBSERVATORY
The Marcgravia evenia plant has dish-shaped leaves that bounce back echoes that bats can identify through echolocation.

A Vine Bounces Back Sound to Signal Bats

The plant, Marcgravia evenia, has dish-shaped leaves that reflect sounds especially well, making it easy for bats to identify it though echolocation.
OBSERVATORY

Herbivores’ Nibbles Affect Climate Tales That Tree Rings Tell

Analyzing past climate conditions using tree rings is complicated when the trees have been food for animals, researchers have found.

Report on Dead Polar Bears Gets a Biologist Suspended

Charles Monnett’s sightings in Arctic waters became a rallying point for those concerned about global warming.
Science Times: July 26, 2011
URBAN LAB Clockwise from top left: An ant trap in a Broadway median; James Danoff-Burg taking notes in Riverside Park; a white-footed mouse in Highbridge Park; Dr. Danoff-Burg collecting ants.
Damon Winter/The New York Times
URBAN LAB Clockwise from top left: An ant trap in a Broadway median; James Danoff-Burg taking notes in Riverside Park; a white-footed mouse in Highbridge Park; Dr. Danoff-Burg collecting ants.
A small but growing number of field biologists study urban evolution — the biological changes that cities bring to the wildlife that inhabits them.
BASICS
HIDE AND SEEK Studying snow leopards in Afghanistan can be challenging.

A Forbidding Kingdom of Snow Leopards

A wealth of snow leopard images has helped estimate population numbers, identify individuals and track migrations.
ON VIEW
SCIENCE AND FICTION The new movie “Another Earth” is a meditation on guilt and redemption in crisscrossing worlds.

It’s Fashionable to Take a Trip to Another Universe

Multiple universes are all the rage these days, and the new film “Another Earth” explores those crisscrossing worlds.
KEY Codebooks like this one from 1896 cut the cost of telegrams, which were charged by the word.

Codebook Shows an Encryption Form Dates Back to Telegraphs

A computer scientist discovered that a form of cryptography, believed to have been invented in the 20th century, actually has older roots.
Health News
NEWS ANALYSIS

Grasping for Any Way to Prevent Alzheimer’s

Scientists have calculated that if people address certain risks, a significant number of Alzheimer’s cases could be prevented, with the operative word being “could.”
More Multimedia

SLIDE SHOW: Animals at Play

“The Exultant Ark” examines animal pleasure, with surprising, funny, touching, sad, heartwarming pictures by photographers from all over the world.

INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC: 30 Years of the Space Shuttle

An interactive timeline of the 135 space shuttle missions.

VIDEO: Nora Volkow

An interview with the neuroscientist in charge of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who also happens to be the great-granddaughter of Leon Trotsky.

Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer

Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence.
GUARDIAN Don Riepe, near an osprey nest, has lived on Jamaica Bay since 1981. He is among the advocates who work to protect the bay from human intrusion.

Jamaica Bay: Wilderness on the Edge

With the city pushing relentlessly against Jamaica Bay, advocates are toiling to keep the 20,000-acre wildlife haven vital.
The view from the top of Glines Canyon Dam, which is one of two massive hydroelectric dams on the Olympic Peninsula that will be demolished beginning at the end of the summer.

Removing Barriers to Salmon Migration

A promising environmental restoration project will soon get under way in Washington state in the form of the largest dam removal in American history.
SCIENTIST AT WORK BLOG
The Mongolian midsummer festival of Naadam is a celebration of three sports: horse riding, archery, and most of all, wrestling.

Plants, Climate and a Festival

How will climate change affect the diverse plant community that feeds the inhabitants of the northern Mongolian steppe?
Science Columns
OBSERVATORY

Rocky Surprises on the Far Side of the Moon

Researchers have found dome-shaped volcanic deposits that measure half a mile to three miles across on the Moon.
OBSERVATORY
A bottlenose dolphin wearing a marine basket sponge in Shark Bay.

Dolphin Tool Helps to Find Fare on Seafloor

Some dolphins use marine basket sponges to forage for food because it allows them to uncover prey undiscoverable by echolocation.
OBSERVATORY
Kyrtomisporis speciosus and other fossils' carbon isotopes helped date a mass extinction.

Blame for Extinction Spreads to Methane Gas

The study could be foreshadowing the effect of climate change on Earth, its lead author says.
Q & A

The Rocking Boat

Why do some people become seasick while others on the same boat do not?
Podcast: Science Times
Science Times Podcast
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This week: Evolution on a small island, running with the elephants and is Alzheimer's disease preventable?
Health Columns
PERSONAL HEALTH

Sun’s Rays May Leave Mysterious Marks

Many rashes result from a photosensitivity reaction, a combination of the sun’s UVA radiation and exposure to a drug, perfume or another substance.
REALLY?

The Claim: Air-Conditioning Can Cause Colds

Though colds and other respiratory ailments are caused by viruses, not cold temperatures, there is some evidence that air-conditioning may contribute in some small way to such illnesses.
Opinion
DOT EARTH BLOG

Radiation's Role in (Safely) Feeding the Planet

After recent outbreaks of deadly food-borne illness, the notion of irradiating food gets a bit of traction.

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