All stories
below by Michael J. Martin
for United Press International unless otherwise noted
Subject Index
Astronomy
and Astrophysics Science Policy and Government
Biotechnology and
Medicine Social
Science and Psychology Interviews
Mathematics
Mechanical
Devices Material
Science
Energy and the Environment
Book
Reviews
Animals
Archaeology, Geology and Paleontology Computer
Science and the Internet
Chemistry
© United Press International
unless otherwise noted.
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Astronomy, Physics, and Cosmology
Fast particles inflated Universe
Tachyons -- particles that move faster than the speed of light in defiance
of Einstein's strict prohibitions against such amazing speeds -- may be responsible
for the inflation that expanded the Universe from zero to trillions of light
years in a fraction of a second after the Big Bang.
Newton's cherished constant may not be
A Russian physicist at MIT -- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology --
has announced experimental data that may topple one of science's most cherished
dogmas -- that Newton's constant of gravitation, famously symbolized by a large
"G," remains constant wherever, whenever and however it is measured.
Scientists:
Bits more basic than quarks
The basic building blocks of nature may not be atoms, quarks and strings
but quantum bits -- ultra small packets of pure information, top physics researchers
say. String theory suggests that one-dimensional strings vibrating in
myriad ways describe space, time and matter. If bits of information tell the
strings how to vibrate, those bits may be more fundamental than the subatomic
strings they encode.
Cold gas may model cosmos in lab
An ultra-cold gas named for two of the last century's greatest physicists
may allow scientists a glimpse at some of the mysteries of deep space inside
the comfortable confines of a laboratory.
Astronomers
may see beginning of time
Promising new research tools soon may allow astronomers their closest glimpse
yet of the oldest, farthest and most mysterious phenomenon in science: the precise
moment the universe exploded into existence with the Big Bang. "We might, in
a technical sense, soon observe the beginning of time," University of Washington
cosmologist Craig Hogan wrote in the March 22 edition of the journal Science.
Scientist unearths lost Galileo lectures
Obscure lectures on the size and shape of Hell may have led legendary Italian
astronomer Galileo to one of the most important discoveries in the history of
science -- the principle of scale invariance, or the idea that in nature, size
matters.
Ancient shock waves may reveal Creation
Ancient echoes from the birth of the Universe -- gravitational shock waves left
over from the Big Bang -- may help astronomers determine what happened at the
moment of Creation. Studying gravity waves could allow them a glimpse of the
Universe when it was only ten to the minus thirty-two years old.
Exploding stars elemental,
scientists say
A brilliant cosmic explosion spewed radioactive uranium shrapnel all over
a large neighboring star in what may be confirmation of a startling new theory
of chemical synthesis, according to a pair of U.S. physicists.
Accelerating cosmos
may doom string theory -- Part 1
Accelerating cosmos may
doom string theory -- Part 2
Separate papers filed within minutes of one another at the Los Alamos National
Laboratory have proposed that recent observations of an accelerating universe
by the Hubble telescope may doom string theory, which many consider the best
candidate for a unified theory of all physical forces.
New gravity theory may outdistance
Einstein -- 4-part series
Einstein's theory of general relativity, renowned for its geometrical description
of gravity as a "shape" -- a curvature of space and time -- may be
showing chinks in its ninety-year-old armor, according to University of Connecticut
physicist Philip Mannheim. Mannheim has proposed an alternative theory -- conformal
gravity -- that extends many of Einstein's ideas to the very edges of the cosmos.
Mannheim believes contemporary physicists are grafting strange new concepts,
such as dark matter, onto the old theory to keep it alive in the deepest regions
of space and at the very beginning of time.
Smallest galaxy-centered
black hole found
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, Rutgers University astronomers say they
have found the smallest black hole ever detected in the center of a galaxy.
Researchers: Moon once
part of Earth
Astronomers released convincing new evidence Wednesday that the Moon
was formed when a wandering rock the size of Mars collided with Earth.
Solar system to land
in Washington
The entire solar system will soon touch down in the nation's capitol.
Light pollution
hampers astronomers
An odorless, tasteless, and otherwise harmless pollution threatens to slow
and eventually halt the progress of professional and amateur astronomers --
artificial night sky brightness caused by everything from brightly-lit casino
strips to headlights and street lamps, all conspiring to envelop the globe in
a luminous fog.
Student leads first
look at planet birth
A graduate student's unique blend of theory and experiment has led a team
of astronomers from the University of Colorado (CU) to observe the first phases
of planetary formation and growth.
Scientists remember a giant
of cosmology
The man who coined the term "Big Bang" to describe the birth of
the universe and then spent most of his life refuting the concept -- British
mathematician and astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle -- was remembered Wednesday as a
giant of science by fellow astronomers and physicists.
New clues: Deep space
chemistry and life
Scientists reported two important new findings about the chemistry of the
universe at the 198th National Meeting of the American Astronomical Society
today.
Other universes may surround
us, physicists claim
Astrophysicists in Barcelona and Boston claim the universe we inhabit contains
an infinite number of other universes like our own, called "O-regions"
that we will someday be able to contact.
Team finds start of
new solar system
A team of astronomers has found a Jupiter-size planet orbiting a faint
nearby star. The planet, at least three-fourths the mass of
Jupiter, is the second found in orbit around Ursa Major in the Big Dipper, a
yellow star similar to the sun, about seven billion years old and located some
51 light years from Earth.
Physicists propose
tests for dark energy
A major announcement that may solve one of science's greatest lingering mysteries
-- tests that should be able to detect the effects of elusive "dark energy"
that supposedly pervades the cosmos -- surprised researchers today at the national
meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
Invisible asteroids might endanger
Earth
Invisible asteroids and other cosmic bodies made of a new form of matter
may pose a threat to Earth, asserts a noted Australian physicist. Robert Foot
of the University of Melbourne claims a meteorite composed of mirror matter
-- a form of the invisible dark matter that many say makes up over 95 percent
of the universe -- could impact the Earth without leaving any fragments.
Garage invention becomes
first solar telescope for students
A novel, first-of-its-kind telescope, invented by an idealistic amateur astronomer
in his garage to make sunspot viewing -- a dangerous and tedious project --
simple enough for young students debuted today at the American Astronomical
Society national meeting.
Professor presents
new way to find planets
Astronomers presented an unusual new way to search for planets in the most
difficult of locations -- around bright stars that obscure anything nearby --
at the American Astronomical Society meeting today.
Size of universe
tops astronomy agenda
Scientists at the 198th National Meeting of the American Astronomical Society
today released several new developments aimed at answering a question that has
fascinated astronomers since the birth of stargazing -- how large is the universe?
Weapons detection system
finds asteroids
A system researchers use to detect clandestine nuclear weapons tests may
also detect another global threat -- asteroids about to impact the Earth.
Student debunks famous
lunar crater theory
A second-year graduate student at the University of Arizona may have debunked
a long-cherished theory about the formation of one of the moon's most famous
craters -- Giordano Bruno.
Dark matter may be
a myth, physicists say
Dark matter, the ubiquitous but so-far unobserved material many scientists
claim fills the universe, could be no more than myth according to several prominent
astrophysicists.
Einstein equations yield
anti-black holes
A team of US and Russian physicists has proposed important new solutions
to Einstein's famous gravity equations that reveal a major surprise, an entirely
new object -- a kind of anti-black hole with infinitely strong anti-, or repulsive
gravity.
Largest ever student
telescope planned
Dubbed "the largest piece of glass in the world not controlled by PhD's,"
the Faulkes Student Telescope is scheduled for construction later this year
on a remote mountaintop in Maui, Hawaii.
80-year-old theory
may explain dark matter
Physicists at New Mexico State University here are revisiting a failed 80-year-old
theory to explain dark matter, the mysterious, unseen substance many cosmologists
believe is causing the universe to expand and accelerate.
Novel new way to detect
gravity waves
A new and novel way to detect highly-elusive gravity waves has been proposed
in a graduate thesis by a Dutch physicist working under the tutelage of 1999
Nobel Laureate Gerard t'Hooft.
Nature's constants
may not be so constant
Recent observations of metallic atoms in gas clouds 12 billion light years
from Earth may help to confirm the theories of four physicists who have been
working for over a decade in virtual obscurity on an outlandish notion -- that
cherished fundamental constants of nature, such as the speed of light, might
not be constant after all.
Liquid mirrors
may revolutionize astronomy
A promising technology may dramatically lower the high cost of making scientific
discoveries in faraway galaxies -- telescopes that collect cosmic light using
giant mirrors
made of liquid mercury.
New data shed light on
antimatter
New data from an international research team promises to yield precious clues
to a mystery about the cosmic rarity of antimatter, the quantum counterpart
of matter. These results may shed light on both the earliest moments of creation
and the fundamental building blocks of the universe.
Physicists create mini
dwarf star
For the first time, a gas has been cooled to a state in which atomic particles
behave like waves.
Physicists Argue for
New Super Collider
High-energy physicists from across the US are wrapping a 3-day conference
at The Johns Hopkins University designed to craft a proposal for a new supercollider
that avoids the pitfalls responsible for sinking a similar project in the early
1990's.
Physicist: Earth-like
planets may be easier to find
Finding earth-like planets with advanced life forms may not be as difficult
as once imagined says a Welsh astrophysicist.
Searching for ET in all
the wrong places
SETI, the renowned institute dedicated to the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence, has been looking in all the wrong places according to Guillermo
Gonzalez, an astronomy researcher at the University of Washington.
Mars life more than
maybe, scientists say
An expert panel meeting in San Diego Sunday announced a major shift in scientific
opinion about life on Mars -- new evidence, they're convinced, shows life does
exist on the red planet.
Pluto mission proposal
selected by NASA
NASA has selected two finalists for a mission to a far away planet that shares
its name with one of Disney's most popular dogs.
Scientists confer on
outer-space life
Officials of the National Academy of Sciences space studies board met today
to assess the goals and progress of a burgeoning young science exploding with
the promise of exciting and historical discoveries: astrobiology.
Scientists to search
for alien lights
Aliens may be trying to communicate with us by using powerful light pulses
from other star systems -- pulses researchers hope will lead them to extraterrestrial
intelligence.
Scientists study black holes made in
lab
Lab-created dumb holes -- the acoustic, or sound wave analogs of black holes
-- may provide important experimental evidence for quantum gravity, a theory
that unifies atomic and gravitational forces.
Marburger:
Terror war tops science list
Most roads along the government's science policy road map lead to the
U.S. war on terrorism, presidential science adviser John Marburger told the
American Chemical Society's 223rd national meeting Sunday. Marburger emphasized
the broad role of science and science policy in the public discourse and said
terrorism will be a key priority for the foreseeable future.
Standardize voting, experts
tell Congress
In testimony before the House Science Committee today, a panel of scientific
experts called for standardization of the nation's confusing array of voting
procedures and technologies.
Poll shows voters oppose
whaling
A poll released today showing that 83 percent of American voters oppose whaling
by Japan and Norway has pro and anti-whaling forces engaged in a bitter public
relations battle.
Science research
pays off big, study says
Stanford University economists have released a study suggesting the economic
return on publicly-funded basic research may be far greater than previously
thought.
Energy Secretary hates
bananas
BANANA. The word Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham used to describe recent
U.S. energy policy at a Washington press luncheon Wednesday.
Experts shoot down Bush
missile defense
"If you build it, they will build" is the overriding theme many
experts in the area of missile defense communicate on the construction and implementation
of the Bush Administration's new multi-layer missile defense system, which includes
both ground based anti-missile systems and a stripped-down Star Wars-style laser
defense.
Animal rights activists
protest Wendy's -- Part 1
Animal rights activists protest
Wendy's -- Part 2
In a July 3rd declaration of independence for commercially-bred livestock,
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- PETA -- staged a well-attended,
loud, and very public demonstration against the Wendy's restaurant chain Tuesday.
Navy bombing plans may ruin
spring break
The nation's largest conservation groups are up in arms over the U.S. Navy's
purported plans to bomb the president's home base -- Texas -- after Navy troops
withdraw from Vieques, Puerto Rico.
Interactive Smithsonian
exhibit to open
The Smithsonian Institution is preparing to open its first-ever-interactive
exhibit, a ninety-person cinema utilizing advanced digital projectors that will
allow viewers to participate in the story's action and outcome.
Quiet Giant Celebrates 100th
Birthday
A quiet giant celebrates a centennial this March when the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) marks its 100th birthday.
New science may save
old town -- Part 1
New science may save old
town -- Part 2
New science may save old
town -- Part 3
An international committee of nuclear physicists is advocating renovation
of the soon-to-be-closed Homestake gold mine in the Black Hills of South Dakota
into the world's deepest underground laboratory - a place where scientists can
perform experiments that require complete shielding from atmospheric contaminants,
noise, and radioactivity.
Business group
lauds Bush climate policy
Business leaders Wednesday strongly praised President Bush's efforts to table
the Kyoto Protocol -- a 1997 United Nations climate change treaty that committed
industrialized nations to legally binding reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
Privacy debate
targets genetic information
Privacy concerns about individual genetic information are spawning lawsuits,
a new industry, and legislation designed to assure legal protections.
Congress may fund
electric cars
House science committee chairman Sherwood Boehlert introduced a legislative
bonanza for alternative fuel vehicles Wednesday -- a $200 million research and
development funding initiative -- speeding past slow-moving colleagues and the
Bush Administration in the drive to make Americans drive smarter and more fuel
efficiently.
House committee grills
Energy Secretary
House Science Committee members grilled Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
today on issues ranging from offshore oil drilling to science funding cuts.
Report cites dangerous
Russian brain drain
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace today released a report detailing
the decline in living conditions and economic standards for employees of the
Russian nuclear industry.
Conserve carbon, advocates
tell senator
Carbon sequestration -- a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is
converted into carbon trapped by soil and trees -- was the topic of a Senate
Commerce subcommittee hearing today chaired by Sam Brownback (R-KS).
Dairy farmers seek milk
price controls
In a bipartisan move designed to support dairy farmers, Representatives
Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) and Bob Etheridge (D-NC) today introduced legislation
that would enable states to establish so-called "compacts" to set minimum prices
for milk.
Watchdogs seek ban on
drug firm promotions
Public Citizen, the consumer watch-dog organization founded by Ralph Nader,
is petitioning the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
to restrict or eliminate contact between medical residents and pharmaceutical
representatives.
Congressman blasts
eco-terror
Congressman George Nethercutt (R-Wa) today detailed his plans for a full
out legal assault on so-called "eco-terrorism" at a meeting of the Frontiers
of Freedom Foundation, a public policy think tank founded by retired Senator
Malcolm Wallop (R-Wy).
Top biomed researcher tackles
tough issues
The largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the U.S. --
the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, or FASEB -- introduced
new president Dr. Robert Rich Wednesday at a gathering of journalists and scientists
in Washington.
AIDS filter may remove
virus from blood
A novel filtration process designed to remove the AIDS virus from human blood
has shown excellent promise in a series of pre-clinical trials, according to
researchers at Aethlon Medical, an early stage biotechnology firm in La Jolla,
California.
Chemists
trick Alzheimer's enzyme
Chemists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla said Friday they have
tricked an enzyme essential in Alzheimer's disease into blocking its own debilitating
action. A team led by Nobel laureate K. Barry Sharpless developed the chemical
trick, called "click chemistry," to make a molecule that blocks neurotransmitter
destruction caused by the brain enzyme acetylcholinesterase. The destructive
enzyme catalyzes the so-called "click reaction" that creates its own worst enemy
-- its most potent inhibitor.
Screen developed for
common muscle disease
Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit have developed a genetic
screen for a common form of muscular dystrophy that appears to have successfully
identified the defective gene responsible for the disease in live embryos.
To stop AIDS, find hub, scientists say
Getting the best AIDS treatments money can buy to nations without money to
buy them may be the only way to eradicate the global plague, according to new
findings by Notre Dame University researchers.
Sex findings may alter STD treatment strategies
A study of the patterns of human sexual contact has produced some surprise
findings that may force public health officials to rethink strategies to eradicate
sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS and herpes.
Physicists propose mad
cow cure
A team of biophysicists at the University of California, Davis has proposed
a controversial treatment for diseases such as Mad Cow and Kreutzfeldt-Jakob.
Grad student pieces
together gene map
Without the Herculean effort of a graduate student, the human genome map
may still not be assembled.
New tests speed anthrax
identification
Two rapid tests for anthrax are promising to speed identification of the
deadly bacteria -- now considered a favored weapon of bio-terrorists.
Model measures
risk of genetic modifiers
Recent attacks by so-called "eco-terrorists" on genetic research
laboratories in Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon have called stark attention
to a question that scientists at Purdue University may now have a way to answer:
are genetically modified organisms harmful to the environment?
New cancer drug may
shrink large tumors
Studies of IMC-C225, a new drug for the treatment of advanced-stage colorectal
cancer, show it can shrink tumors in some patients who have developed resistance
to other chemotherapy agents.
Mystery of anesthetic
mechanism may be solved
Although more than 150 years have past since the discovery of general anesthetics,
how they precisely work remains a mystery. Biophysicists at the Mount Sinai
Medical Center in New York may be close to solving this riddle.
Landmark study: Snorers
at risk for stroke - Part 1
Landmark study: Snorers at
risk for stroke - Part 2
Snoring and apnea (difficulty breathing) are highly treatable sleep-related
breathing disorders strongly associated with increased risk of stroke, according
to a landmark study by a Yale University physician published in the June issue
of the journal Stroke.
Digital test tubes model cell structure
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have mapped key cellular
structures with supercomputer simulations in yet another triumph for the use
of so-called "digital test tubes" -- computers that do the work of
chemical and biological laboratory experiments.
Social Science, and Psychology
Children poor witnesses,
study concludes
Eyewitness testimony from children may be useless in court, a new Yale University
study has shown.
Net entrepreneur founds
top psych prize
An internet entrepreneur and his year-old foundation have established a top
award in the area of cognitive science, a specialized branch of psychology that
deals with formal, computational approaches to human thought.
Two Stanfords settle
name dispute
Stanford University and Stanford Microdevices -- a scrappy Silicon Valley
tech company and an august educational institution -- have resolved a two-year-old
name dispute after the kind of identity battle that became commonplace with
the advent of domain names and the Internet.
Newly discovered jury
error may plague courts
Jurors are vulnerable to a newly-discovered type of human error that may
regularly affect thousands of verdicts according to new research published by
a Cornell University research team from Ithaca, N.Y.
Olympic world records
may be wrong
Dozens of world records and Olympic bests in
the 200-meter sprint may have to be reconsidered, according to a Canadian physicist.
Nightmares plague
Republicans, study claims
Republicans have scarier and more frequent nightmares than Democrats concludes
a prominent dream researcher.
Sexual harassment study
yields new findings
Social science researchers have found a surprising new fact about sexual
harassment: actual victims react quite differently than those who only imagine
or fabricate a slight.
Interview: Hermann Grunder, Director,
Argonne National Laboratory
Nuclear physicist Hermann Grunder is the Director of the Argonne National
Laboratory. Argonne is operated by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department
of Energy. America's first national laboratory, Argonne sports an annual operating
budget of more than $450 million and supports in excess of 200 research projects.
Argonne has two sites - its 1,700-acre main site about 25 miles southwest of
Chicago, and an 800-acre site known as Argonne-West near Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Physics leader talks about
the road ahead -- String theorist Ed Witten
Ed Witten is one of the 21st century's most celebrated physicists, and
with good reason -- many of his peers believe he's almost always right.
Legendary knot finally untangled
A Polish physicist and Swiss biologist may be the first to untangle the mysteries
of an ancient, legendary knot dating back to Alexander the Great -- the "Gordian
Knot."
Rainfall and temblors may be a lot alike
High-resolution Doppler radar measurements have led scientists in India and
England to startling new conclusions about rainfall, a process that bedevils
meteorologists with its unpredictable, almost chaotic behavior.
A simple mathematical formula -- strikingly similar to that which describes
earthquakes -- provides a statistical model of rainfall, the scientists claim.
Another surprise -- rain is a lot like a landslide.
Scientist finds new clues to old math
mystery
A mathematician at AT&T Laboratories has released data that may prove critical
in solving the greatest mystery of modern mathematics.
New math models spread
of fire, disease
A Russian mathematician has developed a complex proof that may shed light
on percolation processes -- not those associated with morning coffee, but mathematical
models that describe the random spread of forest fires, orchard blight, infectious
diseases and the way hard-to-tap oil moves through porous rock.
Digital model explains puzzling epidemics
Disease-causing viruses and bacteria must mutate rapidly to survive in close-knit
human populations, according to an important new model of epidemic dynamics
proposed by researchers at Cornell University and the Santa Fe Institute.
Math model may explain
mutations
An Italian physicist has developed a mathematical model that seeks to explain
the structure of DNA and why genetic mutations occur.
Scientists use noodle
to model DNA mutation
Using well-cooked spaghetti, researchers at the University of Lausanne say
they have successfully explained why knotted ropes snap more easily than straight
ropes.
Students triumph
at math Olympics
Student mathematicians completed their version of the Olympics Friday as
winners of the 42nd International Mathematical Olympiad claimed gold, silver,
and bronze medals for solving six problems guaranteed to stump even seasoned
professionals.
Math model may predict NCAA's
top teams
Two researchers claim they have a mathematically surefire way to predict
important and confidential committee decisions before they happen. They also
claim they've successfully applied this method to an important sporting event:
the NCAA Tournament Committee's selection of so-called "big dance"
post-season basketball teams.
Mechanical Devices and Material Science
Ultra
small carbon pores may store energy
Nanometer-size pores in carbon may solve a dilemma that has plagued alternative
fuel advocates for years -- how to safely store natural gas at low pressures
that reduce the risk of explosion.
Transportation getting
personal, experts say
In the near future, transportation will be getting more personal according
to experts.
Super safe, super tech
car starts US tour
Automaker Volvo is introducing a super high-tech, super-safe car in a 6-city
series of unveilings scheduled to begin in Washington on May 7.
Team makes first quantum
computer chip
A team of scientists from the United States and Australia has accomplished
a remarkable feat - controlled placement of single phosphorous atoms on a silicon
surface to fabricate the world's first quantum computer chips.
Scientists make exotic
new explosive
Scientists at the Carnegie Institution of Washington reported today they
have transformed nitrogen, normally a transparent gas, into an opaque solid
by subjecting the gas to immense pressure.
Government lab creates
super laser
Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory announced they have created the
world's most powerful laser beam.
Unmanned, student-built
submarines compete
The world's first submarine and the Civil War South's secret weapon -- the
recently-recovered, human-powered U.S.S. Hunley -- might never have cost so
many lives had it been anything like the miniature, student-built submarines
that took to the water Thursday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Talking car 5 years away,
experts say
Talking with your car -- and having it talk back -- may not be far off according
to researchers at I/NET Corporation.
Tiny silicon jaws
giant leap for nano-tech
Microscopic Pac-Men -- silicon-fabricated micro-teeth that open and close
like tiny jaws -- promise new ways to deliver drugs and genetic material to
individual cells, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories said Tuesday.
High-tech metals to
protect national treasures
The world's most technologically advanced display case will be fabricated
from the world's lightest, strongest metals by the National Archives, the US
government agency charged with preserving important, historical documents.
Biotech steel promises
germ-free home
A 100-year-old steel manufacturer has teamed with an entrepreneurial biotech
firm to build the world's first germ-resistant home.
Scientists deliver single
photons on demand
Fluorescent, ultra-small diamonds can deliver single photons on demand, French
scientists have discovered.
Lasers may power nano-motors
Researchers at Harvard University and the Weizmann Science Institute say
laser light may be the fuel of the future for nanotech robots and motorized
tools so small they can manipulate individual cells and molecules.
New
steel beams resist earthquakes
Earthquakes will not topple skyscrapers made with specialized steel beams
that do not require welded joints, engineers at the University of California,
San Diego said Wednesday.
Physicists solve plutonium puzzle
Physicists at Rutgers University claim they have devised the first reliable
method to predict the way plutonium will behave in long-term nuclear waste storage.
NASA-UN satellite
data spots environmental ruin
The Fertile Crescent, the most important wetlands of biblical and ancient
times, is being devastated by modern man according to a report released today
by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
Execs explore energy innovations
The US Geological Survey today released a frightening statistic in light
of the present energy crisis in California and the sharp spike in utility bills
across the nation.
Study: How chemicals
harm amphibians
The EPA embarked on a research study Thursday to determine how environmental
and commercial chemicals disrupt the hormone-producing endocrine systems of
amphibians.
Cloned plants
may clean contaminated sites
A Purdue University scientist has cloned a gene that facilitates the uptake
of toxic nickel from soil into the leaves of a mustard plant. Using these plants
may be a simple and elegant new way to clean up hazardous waste sites contaminated
with heavy metals.
Killing bacteria may
revive old oil wells
Sterilizing old oil wells against the ravages of oil-eating bacteria may
bring the wells back to life and make them worth tapping again, according to
British researchers publishing in this week's issue of the journal Nature.
US and Japan seek
energy's holy grail
A tiny software manufacturer has teamed with one of Japan's largest research
institutes to implement what many experts call the Holy Grail of energy production
-- a working fusion reactor.
Texans use food-style
labels to buy power
Texans will soon be shopping for electricity the same way they shop for food
-- by comparing prices and product information on so-called "electricity facts
labels."
Poll: Hike energy
conservation, production
A Gallup poll released today has pro-environment groups and energy producers
claiming victory in the increasingly acrimonious public relations battle over
fossil fuels, global warming, and the California energy crisis.
Global warming worsening,
scientists say
Conclusive evidence that global warming is increasing at an alarming
pace took center stage today at a meeting hosted by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
World's largest clean
brownfield debuts
Engineers and developers in Dallas are heralding the world's largest brownfield
remediation as a smashing success and a model for the rest of the US, which
is dotted with some 600,000 possible brownfield sites -- previously developed
urban land now derelict and often contaminated.
Conservation act lands wide
support
Supporters of the proposed Conservation and Reinvestment Act, or CARA, a
funding program for wildlife management, open space, parks, and historic preservation,
announced majority backing today by members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Gorbachev speaks on
nations and environment
One of the leading international statesmen of the 20th century is seeking
to become an international force on issues surrounding the health of nations.
Smart meters may
solve power crisis
Smart utility meters and the internet may present the best hope yet for
a solution to California's power crisis and the nation's looming energy woes.
Environmentalists blast Bush
In a morning news conference highly critical of the Bush Administration's
burgeoning environmental record, League of Conservation Voters president Deb
Callahan and Wilderness Society president William Meadows stepped up the pace
of a growing rhetorical war between environmentalists and the White House.
Review: Phoning ET from
home
In the first chapters of "Beyond Contact," author Brian McConnell
has crafted an excellent review of the now burgeoning field of astrobiology,
particularly as it pertains to locating complex life forms, or the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Review: Touching the
Lights Far, Far Away
Blind and visually impaired people can now enjoy the spectacular scenes
of interstellar drama brought to Earth by the Hubble Space Telescope, thanks
to NASA and a trio of innovative authors.
Review: Looking for
cosmic horizons
Jeffrey Bennett ends the seventh chapter of his popular guide to astronomy's
greatest mysteries, "On the Cosmic Horizon," (Addison Wesley Longman, $25.00,
209 pp.) with "The Last Question," Isaac Asimov's famous story of a supercomputer
called AC that learns how to keep a dark, dying universe alive...
Review: A window on
the measurers of men
The story of science is often the story of the men of science and nowhere
is this more true -- and perhaps more fascinating -- than in the history of
geometry and geometers.
Study: female birds
learn faster than males
Female birds learn faster than males. So says Yale Medical School pharmacologist
Ayako Yamaguchi, who claims that female songbirds learn new songs 60% faster
than male songbirds. "This is one of the most substantial learning differences
between male and female animals found to date," Yamaguchi told UPI.
Giant bugs to swarm neighborhood
mall
Giant insects will soon swarm a peaceful neighborhood mall here as part of
a traveling summertime exhibit that combines everything children swoon over:
larger than life computerized robots equipped with claws, pincers and wings
that make adults just a little uneasy.
Humans teach whooping
cranes to fly away home
As if following the script from the 1996 movie "Fly Away Home," public and
private partners dedicated to saving the endangered whooping crane gathered
Monday at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge
to observe ten whooping crane chicks learning to fly behind an ultra-light aircraft
on the first leg of the longest human-led migration in history.
Archaeology, Geology and Paleontology
Home
schooled students find ultra-rare dino fossil
A group of home-schooled students digging for dinosaurs on private
land in the Skullcreek Basin of northwest Colorado has unearthed a fossil so
rare it may land them in the annals of paleontology. The
22-foot long allosaurus fossil is surprisingly intact, said team member Peter
DeRosa, a paleontologist with Creation Expeditions in Clearwater, Florida. The
allosaurus skeleton measures more than 22 feet in length and 10 feet in height,
with a complete skull nearly one yard long, DeRosa said.
Dune Model May Prevent Desert Disasters
A trio of physicists in Paris has developed a simple computer
model they say describes how sand dunes are formed, and many of their mysterious,
poorly understood traits. Klaus Kroy, Gerd Sauermann, and
Hans Herrmann, of the Ecole Superieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles,
believe that simple mathematics can explain a mechanism that has puzzled geologists
for nearly two centuries.
Rocks yield missing
link in life's origins
A graduate student and his academic preceptors have uncovered an important
missing link in the origin of life on planet Earth - how enough oxygen to support
complex life forms could have accumulated in a barren, almost lifeless prehistoric
environment dominated by simple bacteria and rudimentary algae.
Earth's electricity
may predict earthquakes
Wayward electrical signals from the Earth's crust may be a reliable tool
to predict earthquakes, according to a controversial claim by Bulgarian and
Greek geophysicists.
New clues suggest
second mass extinction
Paleontologist Peter Ward, author of the best-selling book "Rare Earth,"
has made an important new discovery -- a well-known mass extinction 200 million
years ago happened in the blink of a geological eye.
Team discovers new
gargantuan dinosaur
A huge new dinosaur, unearthed by an American graduate student and his research
team in a forgotten corner of ancient Egypt, thunders into the annals of paleontology
in the June 1 issue of Science.
Archaeological tool
finds lost burial sites
University of Arkansas researchers have developed a model that enables archeologists
to find long-buried, undiscovered sites.
New giant dinosaur unearthed
The fossilized remains of a new, nearly complete longnecked, giant dinosaur
were recently unearthed on the island of Madagascar.
Ancient trees changed globe,
scientist says
Trees profoundly changed the world when they first appeared nearly 380
million years ago, reversing over 4 billion years of extreme global warmth and
precipitating worldwide ice ages, according to a Yale University geologist.
Smithsonian unleashes
Triceratops
Curators at the Smithsonian Institution today unveiled a new addition to
their indoor version of Jurassic Park -- a manmade Triceratops skeleton constructed
the way Hollywood makes movie dinosaurs -- with high-tech digital design computers
and ultra-durable, lifelike fiberglass bones.
Computer Science and the Internet
Scientists find new way to spot hackers
A data mining method long overlooked by the computer security industry may
be the best way to detect clever hackers, according to a team of researchers
from universities in Pennsylvania and Iowa.
New program animates accident
reports
French researchers have designed a first-of-its-kind computer program that
animates written auto accident reports in 3-dimensional detail. Sylvain Dupuy,
Arjan Egges, Vincent Legendre, and Pierre Nugues of the University of Caen,
say they originally wrote the program CarSim to perform linguistic analysis
and generate virtual scenes.
Napsterize the Internet,
scientists say
Turning the entire Internet into a giant Napster is the focus of a radical
research proposal by an Australian computer scientist that could transform the
web into its most natural form -- a free communication device operated entirely
by its users in a vast, so-called "peer-to-peer" network.
Unbreakable Codes May be Impractical
A computer science professor at Harvard University may have discovered the
Holy Grail of cryptography, the secret code that cannot be cracked.
Baby-talking computer
may soon debut
A small Israeli startup company claims to have succeeded in training
a computer to converse on the level of an 18-month old baby.
Web movies shine despite tech hurdles
Actors, directors, and cinematographers attending a black-tie Hollywood gala
may sound like
news about the silver screen. Nominees at this year's 2nd annual Pixie Awards,
however, want to make news about the "sliver screen" -- the mini-cine
on desktop computer monitors that, despite technical difficulties, has the maximum
ambition of becoming a one-stop shop for
all things entertaining.
Research team plans
Internet map
Mapping the entire Internet is the ambitious and controversial project of
computer science researchers from Notre Dame, who believe such a map will become
essential as the Internet increasingly outgrows the networks that route its
traffic today.
Chinese hack "genius
grants" foundation
The website of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, a philanthropic
organization best-known for its yearly "genius grants," has been hacked
by the Chinese.
Web may ease patent
process
Novel web-based solutions may enhance the ability of over-worked patent examiners
to search and examine so-called "prior art," written or documented
information that can be used to invalidate a patent application.
Scientists craft forgery-proof
signature
Scientists at MIT and Berkeley claim they have devised super secure digital
signatures that rely on quantum mechanics to ensure against forgery and guarantee
validation.
Spinning atoms may be super
computers
Scientists have built a high-powered microscope that can measure the quantum
spin of a single atom, a first-time technological feat with potential application
to quantum computers.
Researchers build
light-based supercomputer
Researchers at the University of Rochester claim they have constructed a
quantum computer that uses light instead of atoms to achieve mind-boggling computational
power.
Britain unveils
super supercomputer
Britain's largest academic supercomputer -- nicknamed "The Cosmology
Machine" -- is coming online to help solve some of the great mysteries
of the cosmos.
Chemists
make molecule that can't exist
Chemists at Northwestern University in Chicago have synthesized a stable
molecule that should not exist according to rules of chemistry so stringent
they appear on page 706 of the popular organic chemistry college textbook by
Whitman College chemistry professor L.G. Wade, Jr.
Chemist
develops artificial tongue
A University of Connecticut chemist on Wednesday unveiled a rudimentary electronic
tongue during presentations at the 223rd American Chemical Society conference.
A platinum electrode coated with two polymers that conduct electrical currents,
the tongue can "taste" an amazing variety of chemical compounds in solution,
and may have applications in food testing, environmental monitoring, drug detection,
identification of bloodborne pathogens and landmine detection.
Grad student makes better plastic
A graduate chemistry student has synthesized an ultra-durable plastic compound
that breaks ground for an entirely new line of plastics -- so-called high-molecular
weight polymers that resist
heat, force, and abrasion better than any plastic presently on the market.
Plastic
pill could deliver multiple doses
Tiny plastic balls may provide precisely controlled, highly targeted drug
delivery, which could help patients switch from taking multiple daily doses
of medication to one controlled-release pill or capsule, a University of Illinois
chemical engineer told the 223rd American Chemical Society conference Tuesday.
T-shirt
dye may improve telecom
A dye commonly used in psychedelic T-shirts might be the chemical key to
futuristic telecommunications -- laser-charged, fiber-optic cables that deliver
voice and computer signals faster and cheaper than today's comparatively sluggish
phone lines, scientists said Monday. "We make a thin, one micrometer polymer
film with Procion Red, a dye used in tie-dye T-shirts," Virginia Tech physics
professor James Heflin told United Press International at the 223rd American
Chemical Society conference.