SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society


Today's Headlines - January 31, 2008

Surprise Egypt Tombs Yield Ornate Coffins, Dog Mummies

from National Geographic News

Four ancient tombs containing well-preserved mummies, ornate painted
coffins, and mummified dogs have been unearthed in El Faiyum, an oasis
about 50 miles southwest of Cairo.

One female mummy was found wearing a gilded mask, a rare treasure at the
site known as the necropolis of Deir el-Banat. The burial complex is a
frequent target for modern-day grave robbers and was thought to have
been
looted of its riches.

"An important point is that these mummies are almost untouched," said
Galina A. Belova, a Russian Egyptologist who led the excavation. "There
are
not so many [well preserved] mummies in El Faiyum at the moment. They
are
very rare." In a separate tomb, the excavators discovered the first
completely intact mummy ever found at the necropolis.

To read more:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080130-egypt-
mummies.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/372hfv


Experts Still Divided on the Link Between Climate Change and Hurricanes

from Nature News

Are rising temperatures favouring more and stronger hurricanes? A study
published in Nature this week attempts to quantify the relationship
between
Atlantic hurricane activity and ocean temperature to help answer this
question. Nature News examines where we are in the debate and what it
means
for us.

Have hurricanes become more frequent and fierce? Yes. The number of
major -
category 4 or 5 - hurricanes (or cyclones, as hurricanes are called in
the
Pacific region) has increased worldwide by around 75 percent since 1970.

The largest increases were in the North Pacific, Indian and Southwest
Pacific Oceans. There is also a global trend since the mid-1970s towards
longer storm duration.

To read more:
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080130/full/news.2008.544.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2r65gj


A Visionary Approach to Eye Damage Repair

from Scientific American

A new vision research center opening in India today becomes the latest
in a
handful of facilities dedicated to exploring the potential of adult eye
stem cells to repair vision damage.

The Champalimaud Center for Translation Eye Research (C-TRACER), part of
the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India, will continue research
begun by LV Prasad scientists, who use eye stem cells from living adults
to
grow new cells that are then implanted into damaged eyes.

The center's goal is to restore vision to some portion of the 65 million
people worldwide - about 1 percent of the world population - considered
to
be legally blind, which the National Federation of the Blind defines as
a
central visual acuity of 20 / 200 or less in the stronger eye, even when
aided by a corrective lens.

To read more: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=stem-cell-eye-repair

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2qj3h8


DNA Construction Kit Self-Assembles 3D Crystals

from New Scientist

Strands of DNA can be programmed to assemble nanoparticles into 3D
structures, pointing towards a new way to engineer materials from the
bottom up.

Two research groups have demonstrated the technique, using squid-like
gold
nanoparticles with "arms" made of DNA. After that the nanoparticles just
need to be mixed together. The DNA strands start linking to one another,
corralling the particles into sponge-like crystals.

"These are fundamentally new structures of matter," says Chad Mirkin of
Northwestern University in Evanston, US, who led one of the groups.
Mirkin
and colleagues hope this new approach to building materials could find a
host of uses, from assembling crystals for optical communications to
building structures inside the body to attack disease.

To read more: http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13254-dna-
construction-kit-selfassembles-3d-crystals.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/3a7upw


Mercury's Volcanic Past Revealed

from BBC News Online

A fly-by by a Nasa unmanned space probe has revealed evidence
of "widespread" volcanism on the planet Mercury. The US Mercury
Messenger
spacecraft made a close pass of the first planet from the Sun on 14
January.

Evidence from the Mariner 10 probe launched in the 1970s had provided
only
tenuous evidence for volcanic activity. In addition, only 45 percent of
Mercury's surface had previously been mapped; Messenger has already
covered
a further 30 percent of the planet.

"This fly-by allowed us to see a part of the planet never before viewed
by
spacecraft, and our little craft has returned a gold mine of exciting
data," said Dr Sean Solomon, Messenger's chief scientist.

To read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7218575.stm

Or: http://tinyurl.com/3xbgzr


War Concussions Linked to Stress

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

About one in six combat troops returning from Iraq has suffered at least
one concussion in the war, injuries that, while fleeting, could heighten
their risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, researchers are
reporting.

The study, [in] The New England Journal of Medicine, is the military's
first large-scale attempt to gauge the effect of mild head injuries -
concussions, many of them from roadside blasts - which some experts
worry
may be causing a host of unrecognized neurological deficits.

The new report finds that soldiers who had concussions were more likely
than those with other injuries to report a variety of symptoms in their
first months back home, including headaches, poor sleep and balance
problems. But they were also at higher risk for the stress disorder,
known
as PTSD ...

To read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/health/research/30cnd-
brain.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2vyjj3


Study Shows Vaccine-Autism Link Unlikely

from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)

New studies in infants show that the mercury used as a preservative in
vaccines is cleared from the body at least 10 times faster than
researchers
had previously believed, a finding that casts further doubt on the
theory
that the preservative causes autism.

Researchers had believed that the ethyl mercury in the preservative
thimerosal is metabolized in much the same way as the methyl mercury
found
in fish and other sources.

But the first study of ethyl mercury in children shows that levels of
mercury in the blood are only a tenth as high as expected, and the toxic
element is cleared out rapidly, according to a paper to be published
Monday
in the journal Pediatrics.

To read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-
thimerosal31jan31,1,6019221.story

Or: http://tinyurl.com/37br8j


Benjamin Franklin Plays Sudoku

from Science News

Only in the last five years has sudoku been capturing people's
recreational
time. But 250 years ago, Benjamin Franklin was developing fascinating
puzzles with principles quite similar to sudoku, keeping himself
occupied
while taking a break from his electrical investigations.

Now, a mathematician has discovered two Franklin puzzles even more
fantastic than those previously known and written a book describing all
of
Franklin's mathematical endeavors.

In "Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey"
(Princeton
University Press, 2007), Paul C. Pasles of Villanova University in
Pennsylvania argues that Franklin's mathematical achievements have long
been overlooked. Franklin applied common-sense quantitative reasoning in
many areas where it had never been used ...

To read more: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080126/mathtrek.asp

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2jnkud


Dead Spy Satellite Could Crash Into U.S.

from National Geographic News

(Associated Press) - A large spy satellite expected to fall to Earth in
late February or early March could hit North America, an official said
Tuesday.

The U.S. military is developing contingency plans to deal with that
possibility, Air Force Gen. Victor "Gene" Renuart, Jr., who heads U.S.
Northern Command, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The size of the satellite suggests that some number of pieces will not
burn
up as the orbiting vehicle re-enters the Earth's atmosphere - and will
hit
the ground. "We're aware that this satellite is out there," Renuart
said. "We're aware it is a fairly substantial size. And we know there is
at
least some percentage [of it] that it could land on ground as opposed to
in
the water."

To read more: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080130-AP-
satellite.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/3bp6ge


Dark Energy Makes Galaxies Keep Their Distance

from New Scientist

Galaxies today are struggling to clump together against the incredible
repulsive power of dark energy, hints a new survey of thousands of
galaxies. Measuring this anti-clumping effect puts a new arrow in the
quiver of cosmologists seeking to uncover the nature of the mysterious
force.

Scientists proposed the existence of a mysterious repulsive force called
dark energy in 1998 to explain supernova observations showing the
universe
is expanding at ever faster rates. Since then, researchers have been
trying
to measure the properties of dark energy more precisely, in the hope of
discovering what it is.

... Now, a study led by Luigi Guzzo of Brera Astronomical Observatory in
Merate, Italy, may pave the way for researchers to decide between the
different theories. They wanted to see if dark energy had any effect on
the
motion of galaxies at different times since the big bang.

To read more: http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13253-dark-energy-
makes-galaxies-keep-their-distance.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2jm8pv