Graphic: A Looming ThreatFindings
The Threatening Scent of Fertile Women
By JOHN TIERNEY
Men in a relationship, unlike the unattached, tell themselves that a fertile woman isn’t really that attractive, researchers say.
Science Times: Feb. 22, 2011
Danger Pent Up Behind Aging Dams
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Michal Czerwonka for The New York Times
NOT INACTIVE Engineers now know that the Lake Isabella Dam lies on an active fault line. Below, a survey monument used to measure ground movement.
Of the nation’s 85,000 dams, more than 4,400 are considered susceptible to failure, but repairing them all would cost billions.
A Romp Into Theories of the Cradle of Life
By DENNIS OVERBYE
Chemists, geologists, biologists, planetary scientists and physicists gathered recently to ponder where and what Eden might have been.
A Dazzling Show Inside a Laser, but a Vacuum of Light Outside
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
The device may lead to the development of new kinds of switches and filters that could be useful in hybrid optical-electronic computers under development.
Health News
The Doctor’s World
When Alzheimer’s Waited Outside the Oval Office
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, M.D.
“My Father at 100,” Ron Reagan’s memoir, is a reminder of the difficulty of distinguishing the initial symptoms of Alzheimer’s from, say, simple forgetfulness.
Studying Aging, and Fearing Budget Cuts
By MILT FREUDENHEIM
Dr. Richard J. Hodes, the director of the National Institute on Aging, weighs the research his lab is doing in a time of fiscal pressure.
Well
When the Doctor's Wife Has Cancer
By PETER B. BACH, M.D.
A doctor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center feels like a first-time visitor in his hospital after his wife receives a cancer diagnosis there.
Well
In Surprise Finding, Bald Mice Find Their Fur Again
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Mouse researchers conducting stress hormone experiments have stumbled onto a surprising new discovery -- a potential treatment for hair loss.
Books
Symphony of Pain in Two Accounts of Schizophrenia
By ABIGAIL ZUGER, M.D.
A father and son write about their experiences, and a daughter writes about her mother’s illness.
Colorado Faces a Fight Over Naturopathy
By DAN FROSCH
No licensing system for naturopaths exists in Colorado, but efforts to create one have failed in the past and have run up against committed opposition.
More Science News
Leah Nash for The New York Times
Shiva weighs twice the norm.
Today’s Lab Rats of Obesity: Furry Couch Potatoes
By ANDREW POLLACK
Rhesus macaques in an Oregon research center are being turned into couch potatoes with weight problems for study.
Slide Show: Fat MonkeysA Homecoming for Bighorn Sheep in Colorado
By KIRK JOHNSON
After the devastation of a fire in the Pike National Forest, now a return of life in the form of bighorn sheep.
George Bugliarello, Visionary Engineer, Dies at 83
By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK
Mr. Bugliarello, president of the Polytechnic Institute of New York for 21 years, spearheaded the creation of the MetroTech research park in Brooklyn.
California: Satellite Will Analyze Space Grit
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NASA is set to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite, Glory, on a $424 million mission to analyze grit spewed by volcanoes, forest fires, smokestacks and tailpipes.
With Whaling Ships Under Attack, Japan Will Recall Fleet
By MARTIN FACKLER
An environmental group has largely prevented the country’s ships from killing the mammals.
Green Blog
Green Roof Collapses in Illinois
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Investigators are still trying to determine why a 700-by-50 foot section of a roof over a parking area buckled at a garden pond construction and supply company.
Computer Wins on ‘Jeopardy!’: Trivial, It’s Not
By JOHN MARKOFF
The Watson computer’s performance was proof that I.B.M. has taken a big step toward a world in which machines will understand and respond to humans.
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Play the Watson Trivia ChallengeMultimedia
Visualizing Science
Some of the winning photographs and illustrations from the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, sponsored by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation.
Interactive Feature: Is That a Smile? How Computers Recognize Expressions
A facial-recognition system is able to read human emotions by tracking face movements and linking the information with a database of expressions.
Interactive Feature: A Space Wardrobe
A collection of spacesuits, some worn by famous astronauts and others that never made it into space.
Video: Spacesuit Archives
Interactive Feature: Test Your Insight
Does your mood affect how quickly you intuit answers? Play this game to find out.
Shhh, and Not Because the Fauna Are Sleeping
By FELICITY BARRINGER
Increasing evidence suggests that animals modify their behavior in response to human commotion.
Podcast: Science Times
This week: Disasters waiting to happen, remaking the landscape of breast cancer, and following the fisher.
Science Columns
Q & A
Of Heart and Guts
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
There is some evidence that sleeping position may be related to heart function and gastroesophageal reflux, separate studies have shown.
Observatory
Brain’s Reading Center Isn’t Picky About Vision
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
The area thought to be responsible for processing visual text also fires when blind readers use Braille, brain scans indicate.
Observatory
Hibernating Bears Keep Thermostat Turned Up
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
The body temperature of black bears observed in Alaska dropped only slightly during hibernation, researchers found, though their metabolic activity was reduced to about 25 percent.
Observatory
Skull-Cups in British Cave Conjure an Ancient Rite
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
The well-shaped braincases of two adults and a child who lived 14,700 years ago are the oldest directly dated skull-cups known, based on radiocarbon analysis.
Health Columns
Personal Health
Tackling Care as Chronic Ailments Pile Up
By JANE E. BRODY
Patients, caregivers and providers must work together to ensure people with more than one condition have the best quality of life.
Really?
The Claim: A Fake Smile Can be Bad for Your Health
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
A study looked at bus drivers because their jobs require frequent — and generally courteous — interactions with many people.
Maya Archaeologists at Ceibal
February 20, 2011
Excavating the Origins of Maya Civilization
February 17, 2011
To Ecuador, With Sea Turtles in Mind
February 16, 2011
‘Dirty’ Energy in China and India
February 21, 2011
Speedy Evolution, Indeed
February 18, 2011
Is Fashion Week Smoking?
February 18, 2011
Opinion
Dot Earth Blog
Location and Timing Contribute to Losses in New Zealand Earthquake
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
After a close call in an earthquake last fall, Christchurch, New Zealand, is badly damaged by a less potent, but closer, aftershock.
Letters
Science, Environment and Health Series | Special Sections
MOST POPULAR - SCIENCE
- Danger Pent Up Behind Aging Dams
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- A Romp Into Theories of the Cradle of Life
- Shhh, and Not Because the Fauna Are Sleeping
- Scientist at Work: The Maya Archaeologists at Ceibal
- Q & A: Of Heart and Guts
- Green: ‘Dirty’ Energy Dwarfs Clean in China and India
- Ecuadorean Villagers May Hold Secret to Longevity
- A Dazzling Show Inside a Laser, but a Vacuum of Light Outside
- Scientist at Work: Excavating the Origins of Maya Civilization
- Danger Pent Up Behind Aging Dams
- A Romp Into Theories of the Cradle of Life
- Findings: The Threatening Scent of Fertile Women
- Shhh, and Not Because the Fauna Are Sleeping
- Q & A: Of Heart and Guts
- The Maya Archaeologists at Ceibal
- 'Dirty' Energy Dwarfs Clean in China and India
- Green Roof Collapses in Illinois
- Computer Wins on ‘Jeopardy!’: Trivial, It’s Not
- A Dazzling Show Inside a Laser, but a Vacuum of Light Outside
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