sábado, 4 de junio de 2011

Science review


TEMPERATURE RISING

A Warming Planet Struggles to Feed Itself

Victor Valenzuela selects wheat plants for breeding at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico.
Josh Haner/The New York Times
Victor Valenzuela selects wheat plants for breeding at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico.
As global warming puts stresses on farmers feeding a growing world population, financing to develop new crop varieties and new techniques has been slow to materialize.
World Science Festival
Speakers at the World Science Festival event,
World Science Festival
Speakers at the World Science Festival event, "Salon: Genetics and Cancer," on Friday morning included Eric Lander, Mary-Claire King, Emily Senay, Siddhartha Mukherjee and Charles Sawyers.
Experts at the World Science Festival mused on individualized therapies, global involvement in clinical trials and the potential of genetic research to find a cure. Hint: It could take a while.

A Double Helix of Art and Science

The five-day World Science Festival is a smooch-fest between science and art.
 Interview With Brian Greene and Tracy Day, Festival Founders
OBSERVATORY

In Penguin Huddle, Researchers Find a Wave of Warmth

A coordinated movement allows every emperor penguin a chance to move from the colder outer region of the huddle into the warmer inner region.
OBSERVATORY
A gorilla feeding in Uganda.

Protein-Rich Diet Helps Gorillas Keep Lean

Protein makes up about 17 percent of the total energy intake for mountain gorillas in Uganda. That’s close to the 15 percent protein intake the American Heart Association recommends for people.
OBSERVATORY
Halicephalobus mephisto, a new species of bacteria feeding nematode, was discovered in a South African gold mine more than 9,000 feet below the surface.

Treasure Is Found Deep in a Gold Mine: A New Worm

A tiny nematode from a shaft of the Beatrix mine in South Africa is the first known multicellular organism to dwell at such depths.

Chemicals in Farm Runoff Rattle States on the Mississippi

Runoff from the Mississippi River that has agricultural chemicals in it threatens to create the largest dead zone ever in the Gulf of Mexico.
The shuttle Endeavour landing at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, the end of its final mission. It will be on display at the California Science Center, without its engines and other parts.

Shuttles, Turning Sedentary, Leave Pieces Behind for Science and Safety

As NASA gets its space shuttles ready to be shipped out to museums, crews have been flooded with requests to squirrel away parts of the spacecraft for analysis.
Science Times: May 31, 2011
MONITOR Jay S. Famiglietti of the University of California Center for Hydrologic Modeling found that from October 2003 to March 2010, aquifers under the state's Central Valley were drawn down by 25 million acre-feet.

Groundwater Depletion Is Detected From Space

Scientists have used small variations in the Earth’s gravity to identify trouble spots around the globe where people are making unsustainable demands on groundwater.
A CONVERSATION WITH ELLEN BIALYSTOK
MENTAL WORKOUT Ellen Bialystok with a neuroimaging electrode cap.

The Bilingual Advantage

Among other benefits, the regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms.
ON PARADE President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, second from left, reviewed a Shahab-3 missile, which can carry a nuclear warhead, near Tehran in 2005.

Inspectors Pierce Iran’s Cloak of Nuclear Secrecy

The world’s atomic watchdog unveiled new details of what they call “possible military dimensions” of Iran’s nuclear program.
BURIED Devastation along Franklin Street in Waco, Tex., on May 11, 1953, which until this year was the deadliest year for tornadoes since records have been kept.

Despite Advances, Tornado Forecasts Show Limits

Tornado fatalities have declined steadily, but many of the circumstances that were beyond science in 1953 are still beyond science today.
Health News

Brain Injuries Are Seen in New Scans of Veterans

A study may explain why some people exposed to blasts have symptoms despite normal CT and M.R.I. scans.

Report Finds Inequities in Payments for Medicare

A National Academy of Sciences panel says formulas for reimbursing doctors and hospitals are deeply flawed.
THE DOCTOR’S WORLD
Ken Meeks, photographed in San Francisco in September 1986, died three days later. His skin lesions were the result of Kaposi's sarcoma, a rare cancer that was a harbinger of the AIDS epidemic.

30 Years In, We Are Still Learning From AIDS

The fight against the disease has altered medicine, shaped research and highlighted the challenges that remain.
More Multimedia

SLIDE SHOW: An Ecological Ambassador

According to the owl researcher Denver Holt, snowy owls are a charismatic ambassador to the world to warn of problems caused by climate change.

INTERACTIVE FEATURE: What Makes Music Expressive?

What makes music expressive? Quiz yourself based on new research.

SLIDE SHOW: Readers’ Photos: A Family’s Best Friend?

Photos and stories of pets that were viewed differently by family members.

Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer

Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence.
Nanjing's wutongs, top, prized for their beauty and the shade that they provide, are under threat from development.

A Grass-Roots Fight to Save a ‘Supertree’

This spring, outraged by plans to uproot hundreds of trees to make way for a new subway line, thousands of Nanjing residents mobilized to oppose the action.
WEEK IN REVIEW

Under the Sea, Coral Reefs in Peril

Coral communities are dying around the world. Scientists point to a warmer and increasingly acidic ocean as the cause.
Surveying during the Terra Nova expedition.

‘An Empire of Ice’

In time for the 100th anniversary of the conquest of the South Pole, a history of Antarctic exploration through the lens of science.
GREENTECH

Batteries That Can Multitask

Engineers are looking into building electric vehicles with carbon composites that can also serve as batteries. The materials could make the vehicles lighter as they also provide extra electricity.
A 100-year-old-technology that is essential to modern life is about to be snuffed out. Yikes.

Bulb In, Bulb Out

A 100-year old technology that is essential to modern life is about to be snuffed out. Yikes.
Science Columns
Q & A

The Squeaky Joint

Considerable research shows that ingesting fish oils can help reduce stiffness in those with rheumatoid arthritis.
OBSERVATORY
Bjorn van der Hoort created the sensation of miniaturization with a volunteer and a small doll.

Gaining Perspective, Small and Large, With Dolls

Researchers used cameras and a doll to open a window on how people interpret the world around them.
OBSERVATORY

Sloppiness Aside, Dogs Are Sophisticated Drinkers Too

A report last year on cats’ gravity-defying lapping mechanism surmised that dogs just crudely scoop up liquids. Not so, researchers now say.
OBSERVATORY
The largest example of anomalocaridids found by scientists.

Fossil Extends Life Span of a Marine Predator

A well-preserved specimen indicates that anomalocaridids, the largest animal species of the Cambrian period, lived 30 million years longer and grew much bigger than previously thought.
Health Columns
PERSONAL HEALTH

A Good Night’s Sleep Isn’t a Luxury; It’s a Necessity

There always seems to be something keeping us awake.
REALLY?

The Claim: A Diet High in Protein Is Bad for Your Kidneys

A look at the research on a popular weight loss choice.
Opinion
DOT EARTH BLOG

'Whale Wars' Leader: 'Arrest Me or Shut Up'

A man labeled an ecoterrorist by Japan says he is operating within the law against cruel whale slayers.
WORDPLAY BLOG

Numberplay: A Triplet of Time Puzzles

Our puzzles this week are by 13-year-old Neil Bickford.