Barbara Thurlow
[email protected]
NEW SCIENTIST PRESS RELEASE
ORDER #1: THERE AIN'T NO CURE FOR THE BABY BLUES
Soothing a baby after an unpleasant event does nothing to reduce its stress
or even to shorten the amount of time it spends crying, a study carried out
in New Jersey says. After watching the amount of time mothers spent
comforting their babies after inoculation, the researchers concluded that
none of the things mothers did made any difference to the levels of the
stress hormone cortisol in the babies. Page 23
ORDER #2: ROADBLOCKS AHEAD
Closing roads cuts traffic, according to a report due out next month. The
study, commissioned by London Transport, suggests that the computer models
used by urban transport planners produce the wrong answers. Page 4
ORDER #3: TUBE TRAVEL
An inflatable tent is the latest in space housing. The inflatable module
called TransHab, which is being developed by NASA, could be the new living
quarters for astronauts heading for the International Space Station and for
future missions to Mars. Page 16
ORDER#4: WORK-OUTS KEEP THE BRAIN IN SHAPE
Couch potatoes take note - simple physical exercise could protect your brain
from the ravages of old age. Increased activity triggers a huge and rapid
growth in the density of the brain's blood vessels, even in middle age, say
researchers in Wisconsin. Page 10
ORDER #5: A BRILLIANT WAY TO PROTECT OUTDOOR ART
Metal sculptures that have lost their lustre after years in the open air can
now be given a bright new sheen, thanks to a technique for spraying metals
developed by weapons researchers in New Mexico. The technique sprays the
sculpture's surface with tiny droplets of molten metal which cool and
solidify on practically any surface. Page 6
ORDER #6: FRACTAL CANCER
Mastering math may make diagnosing breast cancer easier. Well-trained
doctors can spot a cancer cell because the DNA in the nucleus forms
irregular clumps. But malignant cells are often left unrecognised. A
biomathematician in New York has found that judging this "clumpiness"
becomes much easier using fractal theory. Page 14
ORDER #7: LUNAR SACRILEGE
The Navajo Nation is speaking out against NASA's decision to put astronomer
Eugene Shoemaker's ashes on the Moon. Sending the ashes up with the Lunar
Prospector probe has upset the Nation's President, who says the Moon is
sacred to his people. Page 5
ORDER #8: FAR FROM THE MADDING COW
They've been lurking in the brains of mad cows for years. But now prions are
also popping up in yeasts and in fungi. They are not all bad - it seems that
prions play a role in healthy creatures as well as in diseased ones. Pages 24-29
ORDER #9: BOILING FRIDGE
Forget heavy compressors and noxious gases. The new generation of fridges
may use hot chips that only need electrons to keep them cool. Pages 30-31
ORDER #10: THERE'S AN ANT IN MY PHONE
Would you let ants run the digital superhighways of the future? Telephone
company engineers are seriously thinking about it. Pages 32-35
ORDER #11: FAMILY FEUDS
Reconstructing life's evolutionary tree is tough going. Cows, it turns out,
are more closely related to dolphins than they are to horses. But working
things out is even harder when warring researchers try to cut the branches
out from under each other. Pages 36-40
PLEASE MENTION NEW SCIENTIST AS THE SOURCE OF THESE ITEMS - THANKS
-ENDS -
January 21, 1998
Issue cover date: 24 January, 1998
For fax copies of full stories or to arrange an interview, please contact
Barbara Thurlow at [email protected] or on 202 452 1178. In Europe please
contact Denis Hart, Reed Business Information Press Office, Tel. (0181) 652
8032 or email [email protected]
New Scientist Planet Science provides Internet users with news, features,
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