Scientific American - News

New Radar May Help U.S. Draw the Line on Burrowing Under the Mexico Border

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST

Underground tunnels crisscross the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and the U.S. government is looking for better ways to stop the smugglers who build and use them. [More]

Space Show Takes Viewers on a Stellar Journey

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:00:00 EST

As moviegoers make plans to watch summer blockbusters this weekend, there is an additional choice for New Yorkers: Journey to the Stars, the new space show opening July 4 at the Hayden Planetarium in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Rose Center for Earth and Space. [More]

Plastic Not-So-Fantastic: How the Versatile Material Harms the Environment and Human Health

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST

From cell phones and computers to bicycle helmets and hospital IV bags, plastic has molded society in many ways that make life both easier and safer. But the synthetic material also has left harmful imprints on the environment and perhaps human health, according to a new compilation of articles authored by scientists from around the world.

More than 60 scientists contributed to the new report, which aims to present the first comprehensive review of the impact of plastics on the environment and human health, and offer possible solutions.

[More]

DNA Sudoku

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:30:00 EST

A 2,000-year-old math theorem, along with Sudoku, may soon help researchers untangle DNA at blazing speeds. [More]

Band of Bots Don't Play Musical Instruments--They Are the Instruments

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST

GuitarBot couldn't keep a tune. "It's too high at the top, and too low at the bottom," Michael Hearst complained as he hopped onto the platform, giving the tuning knob a hopeful quarter-turn. But when he climbed down again and hit a button on his keyboard, the mechanical bridge slid back up the track, thumbing a note before wailing off-pitch once again.

[More]

Astronomers Size Up a Candidate for Midsize Black Hole

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:01:00 EST

Black holes vary greatly in size, from relatively small ones several times the mass of the sun, which are born of collapsed stars, to supermassive lurkers like the one at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, with the mass of about four million suns. [More]

Scientists Flesh Out Fossilized Tissues from Mummified Dinosaur

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:01:00 EST

Earlier this week scientists studying fossilized teeth from a hadrosaur revealed how the duck-billed dinosaur chewed plants for food. Now another team, analyzing what may be the most intact dinosaur mummy discovered yet, report fresh details about the skin of a hadrosaur nicknamed Dakota, which might have been bigger and moved more quickly than previously thought. [More]

A Family Tree, a Rare Cancer, and a Hunt for its Cause

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:00:00 EST

Three years ago, pathologist Ashley Hill flew to Minnesota to meet a family wracked by one of the world's rarest cancers. [More]

Biofuel Showdown: Should Domestic Ethanol Producers Pay for Deforestation Abroad?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST

After a fierce battle over agricultural incentives in a landmark climate bill, Congress plans to ask the National Academy of Sciences to study how biofuel production in the Midwest can shift food production abroad, stimulating a wave of deforestation. [More]

Car Exhaust Associated With Premature Births in Southern California

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:35:00 EST

Women exposed to air pollution from freeways and congested roads are much more likely to give birth to premature babies and suffer from preeclampsia, according to a study by University of California scientists published Wednesday.

The findings, based on pregnant women in the Long Beach/Orange County region of Southern California, add to the growing evidence that car and truck exhaust can jeopardize the health of babies while they are in the womb.

[More]

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Heart Beat: Music May Help Keep Your Cardiovascular System in Tune

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST

Music may calm the savage beast or, at least, make the workday seem shorter. A new study now adds cardiovascular health to the list of music's potential benefits, suggesting it can directly trigger physiological changes that modulate blood pressure, heart rate and respiration. [More]

Low Brainer: Ancient Skull Shows Early Primates Didn't Need Big Brains

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST

Compared with other mammals, primates--from lemurs to humans--have huge brains. But scientists still don't know exactly why--or even when--our brains ballooned. A new study, published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, postulates that even without big brains, early primates were able to do a lot of primatelike things--a finding that calls into question many of the prevailing evolutionary theories. [More]

Weed-Whacking Herbicide Proves Deadly to Human Cells

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:30:00 EST

Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.

The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” -- the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

[More]

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Why Aren't More Women Tenured Science Professors?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:55:00 EST

Women who apply for tenure-track positions at top-tier research universities in math and sciences these days have a slightly better chance of landing the job than their male colleagues, says a new study funded by the National Science Foundation. [More]

Following the Money

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:35:00 EST

Global health hit the philanthropic jackpot in recent years. About four times more aid flowed into developing countries in 2007 than in 1990. But a paper published in The Lancet suggests the nearly $22 billion donated in 2007 missed many of the world’s most deserving countries and diseases. [More]

Clean Diesel Comes of Age

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST

For decades, diesel trucks and buses have spewed large amounts of soot, smog-causing gases and carcinogens into the air.

But new diesel engines are more than 90 percent cleaner than a few years ago, far exceeding the emission reductions required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a new study released Thursday.

[More]

Subsidized Fertilizer: The Answer to Africa's Food Crisis?

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:10:00 EST

Although overuse of fertilizer has caused environmental damage around the world, some scientists are calling for an increase in its application in African agriculture. [More]

Global Warming Impacts In Every Corner of the United States

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:45:00 EST

The Obama Administration on Tuesday released a report showing climate disruption is already leaving deep imprints on every sector of the environment and that the consequences of these changes will grow steadily worse in coming decades.

The 196-page report crisscrosses the United States and finds that global warming has touched every corner: Heavier downpours, strengthened heat waves, altered river flows and extended growing seasons.

[More]

FBI Sting Catches Alleged Archaeological Thieves in Southwest

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST

Last week, federal agents swooped in on 23 of the 24 people indicted on charges of stealing archaeological artifacts from public land and Indian reservations in the Southwest. But after a 60-year-old physician committed suicide over the weekend, Utah senators are saying the raid was overkill. [More]

Do Gay Animals Change Evolution?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:45:00 EST

Homosexual behavior seems pointedly un-Darwinian. An animal that doesn't pass along genes by mating with the opposite sex at every, well, conceivable opportunity, seems to be at an evolutionary disadvantage. So what’s in it for the 450-plus species that go for same-sex sex? [More]