Ice is nice: Report offers no certainty on sea level rise
[3 May 2007]
Greenland's icecap holds enough water to raise sea level by 7 meters. Some studies show it sliding faster into the sea. Should we worry? New report says "We don't know." Comforting? (More...)
Flying with bats
[10 May 2007]
New study shows how they stay aloft, turn on a dime. Freeze-frame pix of bats flying show unexpectedly complex flight patterns. Meet evolution's second answer to the problem of vertebrate flight.
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Fresh Siegfried
Over the years, the mysteriously rapid way in which humans learn language has given scientists a lot to talk about.
More on...Science Matters, Tom Siegfried: Languages survive by evolving to be learnable
In The News
To slow warming, energy sources must not release carbon dioxide.
The oil industry already injects CO2 into deep rocks. Is it possible to capture CO2 from coal plants, and pump it deep underground? Is it safe? Is it affordable? More on...Carbon Storage: A Low-Carb Solution to Global Warming?
In response to Vioxx snafu: "The bill calls for a fundamental change in the philosophy and operations of the F.D.A., requiring the agency to focus on the entire life cycle of a drug — not just the years prior to its approval, but also the experience of patients who later take it." (NY Times)
How does FDA work: Too fast or too slow? More on...Drug Safety: Did FDA Bungle its Job?
Reuters: "Some 90 percent of the businesses and homes in Greensburg ... were damaged or destroyed when the mile-wide tornado and winds of 165 mph (265 kph) ripped through.
More on...Tornadoes: Power & Fury
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Sci-tations
"We have shown that a single gene in the fruit fly is sufficient to determine all aspects of the flies' sexual orientation and behavior." --Barry Dickson, leader of the fly study, published in the journal Cell, as quoted in the June 3, 2005 New York Times.
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Coming Thursday
Grillin' -- Everybody's doin' it. But why? What role for the ancient firepit?