Friday, April 15, 2011

Science

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Elena Aprile, right, a Columbia professor, is on a quest for dark matter with a team of graduate and postdoctoral students.
Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

Elena Aprile, right, a Columbia professor, is on a quest for dark matter with a team of graduate and postdoctoral students.

A breathless wait for the first results of an experiment to detect dark matter, and then a verdict: “Spectacular” — no matter that there was very little to see.

Phonetic Clues Hint Language Is Africa-Born

An analysis implies that modern language originated only once, in southern Africa, a surprising finding.

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High Costs Linked to Gaps Around Air-Conditioners

A report estimates that poorly fitted air-conditioners cost buildings in New York City $130 million to $180 million a year in extra fuel consumption.

NASA Chooses Space Shuttles’ Retirement Homes

Shuttles that have been carrying astronauts for 30 years were assigned to their final destinations: Florida; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; and Manhattan.

Observatory

How to Fend Off an Impostor Egg? Warblers Have Their Ways

The cuckoo finch’s habit of laying its eggs in other birds’ nests provokes a variety of defense mechanisms in three species of warblers in Zambia, researchers say.

U.S. Lagging in Using Technology, Study Shows

For the second consecutive year, the United States finished fifth in the World Economic Forum’s look at computing and communications technology.

Science Times: April 12, 2011

Giants Who Scarfed Down Fast-Food Feasts

Scientists want to know how sauropods thrived for 140 million years, and ate enough to grow so hefty.

Gulf’s Complexity and Resilience Seen in Studies of Oil Spill

How the regional ecosystem has responded will keep scientists busy analyzing data for years and help them understand the effects of environmental disasters.

Findings

3-D Avatars Could Put You in Two Places at Once

Conferences with 3-D avatars are nigh, because consumer technology has caught up with the work going on in a pioneering virtual-reality laboratory.

As Mammals Supplanted Dinosaurs, Lice Kept Pace

Lice are expert evolvers, and a new family tree of lice stretches so far back that the host of the first louse would have been a dinosaur.

More Science News

In Japan, Aftershocks Are Also Felt From Within

Doctors say people are experiencing phantom quakes as well as other symptoms of “earthquake sickness.”

High Prices Sow Seeds of Erosion

The farmland scourge of soil erosion, once on the decline, is again a threat, scientists and environmentalists say.

Congress, in a First, Removes an Animal From the Endangered Species List

Environmental groups said a budget measure dictating that wolves in Montana and Idaho be taken off the list sets an unnerving precedent.

Senators Question Safety of Water Used in Gas Drilling

Democrats and Republicans debate the Environmental Protection Agency’s role in regulating toxic chemicals in the waste created by hydraulic fracking.

Precious Waters

Indians Join Fight for an Oklahoma Lake’s Flow

A reservoir in southeastern Oklahoma is at the center of a dispute between the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes and the state over the rights to its water.

Studies Say Natural Gas Has Its Own Environmental Problems

Researchers have found that methane from natural gas is leaking in higher quantities than previously thought.

Health News

Group Faults the F.D.A. on Oversight of Devices

The Government Accountability Office found that the F.D.A. is continuing to approve dozens of high-risk medical devices annually with little review.

Rabbis Sound an Alarm Over Eating Disorders

Pressure to marry young and be all things to all people contributes to a problem, rabbinic leaders say, and a stigma against mental health problems complicates treatment.

More Multimedia

Slide Show: The First Close-Ups of Mercury

NASA’s Messenger spacecraft sent back the first of what is expected to be 75,000 photographs during a yearlong investigation of Mercury.

Slide Show: Up in the Clouds

Some notable selections from “The Cloud Collector’s Handbook” by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, with comments from the author.

Slide Show: Readers’ Photos: A Family’s Best Friend?

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

Interactive Feature: Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer

Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence.

Scientist at Work Blog

The Mayan Collapse

After completing an excavation in Ceibal, Guatemala, archaeologists examine how political, social and environmental problems may have contributed to the Maya collapse.

Multimedia
The First Human in Space

On the 50th anniversary of human space flight, a look at Yuri Gagarin and his extraordinary journey.

Science Columns
Observatory

Taking a Second Look at Penguins’ Decline

Rapidly melting sea ice may not be the why the Adélie penguin population in Antarctica has declined by 50 percent in recent years.

Observatory

In Macaques, Familiarity Breeds...More Macaques?

The monkeys seemed to notice a fertility signal in the females they knew, but not in ones they didn’t, scientists find.

Observatory

Bacterium Puts Insect on Evolution Fast Track

The sweet potato whitefly is infected with a bacterium, and both seem to benefit.

Q & A

When Trees Unfreeze

There are several reasons why snow may melt in rings around trees and shrubs.

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This week: An environmental scorecard from the Gulf of Mexico; how dinosaurs get their necks; and too old for cancer treatment.

Health Columns
Personal Health

Keeping Eyes on Distracted Driving’s Toll

Medical groups are working hard to make patients more aware of distracted driving and its high toll.

Really?

Allergies Can Increase the Risk of Depression

A wave of emerging research suggests that seasonal allergies can be psychologically harmful.

Opinion
Dot Earth Blog

Climate, Communication and the 'Nerd Loop'

A scientist-turned-filmmaker offers a sermon on the importance of moving from talking about climate change communication to communicating about climate.

Wordplay Blog

Numberplay: Tracking the Ball

Sporting contests sometimes turn on a math problem that referees must solve instantly with only their eyes and brains: projecting where a ball's interrupted flight would have taken it.

Science, Environment and Health Series | Special Sections

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