Science News

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Space station Mir, the heaviest thing orbiting our planet other than the Moon itself, will return to Earth around March 20th.

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A scientist describes his down-to-Earth encounters with poisonous snakes, charging elephants and more.

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Three University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography scientists have discovered that planetary waves traveling thousands of miles have a significant impact on the abundance of phytoplankton in the upper ocean, and may play a role in predicting global warming. (Nature)

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North Carolina State University is receiving nearly $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand its organic agriculture research and education efforts.

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Scientists have traced a protein to the point in early evolution when it first began using a chemical, ATP, to power cells. (Journal of Bacteriology, 1-19-01)

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The Antarctic sea urchin demonstrates a remarkable economy, a super energy-efficiency in its metabolism. Despite frigid water temperatures and little available food, its babies can synthesize proteins more efficiently than any other organism recorded to date. (Science, 3-9-01)

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Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that growing nerve cells in the developing embryo are guided to their proper targets by bursts of intracellular calcium that probe what's ahead and send back information to the cells in a kind of biological Morse code. (Science, 3-9-01)

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Today's evolutionary theory is not enough to tell us how even simple mutation biases may skew the evolutionary process. Theories of Darwin and others revisited. (Evolution and Development, 3-8-01)

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Physics, chemistry and materials research supported by the National Science Foundation will make news at the American Physical Society meeting at the Washington Convention Center in Seattle, Wash., March 12-16, 2001.

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In the promising field of nanotechnology, turning ideas into reality will require the development of new and powerful engineering tools to assemble atomic and molecular matter to form designed patterns, according to a publication of ASME International (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers).

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A mango-like fruit that grows in the eastern United States and Canada could make low-fat baked goods more palatable to the health-conscious consumer, according to a new Ohio University study. (Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal)

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Manzamine alkaloids extracted from several species of deep-sea sponges have proven more potent than clinically used drugs against malaria in mice and show great promise against other diseases, such as TB and AIDS, in laboratory tests. (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 3-7-01)

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The U of A High Density Electronics Center (HiDEC) received more than $2 million in funding for its tunable filter and "teraflop in a box" projects this week.

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Scientists are working on several programs aimed at preserving genetic diversity, increasing endangered animal populations, and saving animals on the brink of extinction--by stockpiling the genetic material (eggs, embryos, and sperm) in the Frozen Zoo.

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Scientists have confirmed it: a new high-temperature superconductor found in a simple, commonly available compound has profound potential for future uses. (Nature, 3-8-01)

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Chemical signals at the most critical moment for new life in mammals -- when sperm meets egg and attempts fertilization -- evolve rapidly in a process driven by positive Darwinian selection, according to a Cornell University study. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2-27-01)

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Thanks to the early March nor'easter that has dumped 13.8 inches of snow on the city of salt, this has become the second snowiest season ever for Syracuse, N.Y. In fact, it is the snowiest city in the Northeast, according to climatologists at Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

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What do you think of when you hear the word archaeology? Egyptian pyramids? Absolutely. But UNO urban archaeologists are quick to add images of New Orleans, including the oldest African-American neighborhood in the United States, the historic Treme' district.

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Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients treated with COPAXONE(tm) (glatiramer acetate for injection) showed rapid effect on almost all MRI-monitored disease activity and burden of disease parameters.

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This week the ABC-TV news magazine PrimeTime Thursday will feature a National Science Foundation information technology research project.

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Journalists are invited to attend the next open session of the National Science Board on Thursday, March 15, 2001 at the National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 1235, Arlington, Va.

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While many people await the thawing temperatures of March, an Iowa State University assistant professor of geological and atmospheric sciences, will be leaving for a research project in Norway. He will be spending three weeks under a glacier.

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Foot and mouth is a quick-spreading viral disease found in cattle, swine, sheep, goats, deer and other cloven-hoofed ruminants.

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Warning of impending crashes without annoying drivers is a tricky timing problem; University of Michigan experiments help researchers get it right.

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Information technology research has created a 3D computerized tutor that helps profoundly deaf children to develop their conversational skills.

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"Andy" the avatar talks with his hands. He is a 3D animation, displaying a distinct personality and natural facial expressions that help him interpret words and phrases for hearing-disabled viewers on their computer screens.

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La Nina-like conditions that have persisted in the Pacific Ocean for three years might finally subside this Fall. The change could pave the way for a weak El Nino -- and a surge of hydroelectricity for power-starved California.

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A University of Texas at Austin engineering professor is working with a $2.94 million grant from the National Science Foundation aimed at minimizing loss of life and structural damage from earthquakes.

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Sia Nemat-Nasser, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering, is one of 74 of the nation's top academic and industry engineers elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2001.

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A committee of leading physicists, appointed by the Institute of Nuclear Theory at the University of Washington, is advocating the renovation of the 125-year-old Homestake Gold Mine in the Black Hills of South Dakota as a unique underground science laboratory.

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Fresh from the faucet, a killer may be lurking in your glass. Researchers at the University of Illinois are developing a cost-effective treatment strategy for providing drinking water free of a harmful contaminant. (Water Research, 1-01)

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Why do male but not female zebra finches sing? Scientists for 20 years have known that males develop the correct brain pathway but researchers didn't know why. Mystery solved: Male brains produce enough of the so-called female hormone estrogen at the right time.

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A University of Illinois engineer is experimenting with non-wood fiber crops to show that it is possible to make high-quality products and reduce the demand for fibers harvested from trees.

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A team of proteins vital to fertility because of their ability to send signals that allow sperm to pass through an egg membrane has been isolated by researchers at two universities. (Development, 2-01)

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NASA researchers are studying insects and birds, and using so-called smart materials with uncanny properties to develop mindboggling new aircraft designs.

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Cornell University researchers, using techniques developed to observe subatomic particles, have measured turbulent flow in liquids over a wide range of velocities and have come up with some surprising results: Particles often get an extra kick that accelerates them out of proportion to the general motion of the fluid. (Nature, 2-22-01)

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The National Science Foundation is accepting written requests from professional journalists to visit its North Pole Environmental Observatory in April 2001.

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The National Science Foundation, which runs the U.S. Antarctic Program, is accepting written requests from professional journalists to visit Antarctica during the 2001-2002 research season (early November through mid-January).

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You might not see it, but it's there. Chemical and heavy metal contamination, a health threat, lies silently in our backyards. Now, a University of Missouri Columbia researcher is reducing this threat and the cost of eliminating it.

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Peter Gierasch, one of Cornell University's most distinguished scientists, who has almost "written the book" on planetary atmospheres, will be honored at a two-day seminar March 2 and 3. The two-day event is being held to celebrate Gierasch's 60th birthday.

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Researchers studying the tips of chromosomes in Arabidopsis thaliana--a weed in the mustard family--are learning about gene functions that determine how rapidly plants age, which could lead eventually to advances in human medicine.

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What distinguished Neanderthals and near-modern humans from their predecessors 300,000 years ago, it is believed, was their ability to make and use complex tools, but there is no consensus among experts about how this dazzling leap in technology influenced human evolution. (Science, 3-02-01)

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Scientists at The Salk Institite have shown that running can boost brain cell survival in animals with neurodegenerative disease. "The results suggest that exercise might delay the onset and progression of some neurodegenerative diseases." (Genes and Development, 3-1-01)

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Curious chains of magnetic crystals have turned up in a meteorite from Mars.

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The National Science Foundation has pledged $1.35M over three years for the Smithsonian Institution's new permanent exhibit, "Explore the Universe," which will open in September 2001 at the National Air and Space Museum.

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The tropical Pacific Ocean may be able to open a "vent" in its heat-trapping cirrus cloud cover and release enough energy to significantly diminish projected climate warming caused by a buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. (Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 3-01)

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A NASA alliance with minority colleges and universities is working to create futuristic computers that operate using particles of light.

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Perched on the surface of asteroid 433 Eros, NASA's NEAR spacecraft is beaming back measurements of gamma-rays leaking from the space rock's dusty soil.

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The American Society for Microbiology urges the President and Congress to fund agencies supporting basic research at levels to ensure United States preeminence in science and technology, and to provide essential new funding resources for the CDC and FDA, the protectors of our Nation's public health.

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In the 1960s, Africa's Lake Chad was larger than the state of Vermont, but is now smaller than Rhode Island. NASA-funded researchers now understand why Lake Chad has been disappearing over the last 30 years. (J. of Geophysical Research, 2-27-01)