future technologies: Issue for the week of December 1st, 2012

Sunday, November 18, 2012

With new efforts aimed at the stars, China seeks to revive its astronomical reputation. (p. 20)

Premature puberty among girls poses scientific puzzle. (p. 26)

The cry for help summons allies to graze away the algal overgrowth. (p. 5)

Drugs boost activity in nerve cells that usually induce a slumber. (p. 8)

Technique lights up neurons at work in living animals. (p. 8)

Particle physicists propose a new way to detect dark matter using the molecule of life. (p. 9)

NASA's rover takes a closer look at Mars' surface. (p. 9)

The ABO system may date back 20 million years or more, a genetic analysis suggests. (p. 10)

A protein can trick the body into entering starvation mode. (p. 10)

Greenhouse gas may be flowing into ocean waters off the U.S. east coast. (p. 12)

Draining aquifers likely triggered 2011 tremor that killed nine people. (p. 13)

Warm Antarctic temperatures help preserve UV-protecting layer. (p. 13)

Much-debated rear wings could have given Microraptor extra help in airborne maneuvers. (p. 14)

A creature known only from fossils of its teeth gets some more parts. (p. 14)

Unexpected pattern of evolution found across hemispheres. (p. 15)

Fossils of an ancient child suggest the more than 3-million-year-old hominid mixed climbing with walking. (p. 16)

A contested study suggests that poverty contracts attention and detracts from financial decisions. (p. 17)

A county that banned smoking in bars, restaurants and other workplaces saw a one-third decrease, a new study finds. (p. 18)

Patients with a common gene mutation survive longer, which might enable doctors to predict who would get results from the drug. (p. 18)

Review by Tom Siegfried (p. 30)

Review by Allison Bohac (p. 30)

(p. 30)

(p. 4)

(p. 31)

Building robots that slither (p. 32)

future technologies