ZEBRA-FISH STRIPES Lutz, Diana “Crayola” Guess what? Scientists don’t know which genes control skin color. Amazing-considering the dogmatic statements people make all the time about skin color and race-but true. Last year, however, scientists finally winkled out one gene (probably one of several) that controls whether you’re ebony, ivory, or somewhere in between. And they […]
Crackpot Theories of the Earth Boese, Alex Have you ever wondered what’s in the center of the earth? Scientists have. After all, it’s their job to wonder about things like this. Using a mixture of observation, experimentation, and logic, they’ve concluded that the earth is composed of a series of layers, rather like a giant […]
HOtZi OtZi Photos of Otzi, the frozen Stone Age man whose body was recovered from the Alps in 1991, probably gave you the shivers-not because he was dead, but because he wasn’t dressed warmly enough. But maybe Otzi’s toes, at least, weren’t cold. A professor of shoe technology from the Czech Republic has tested Otzi’s […]
Did You See That? Hopkin, Karen On December 19, 1974, a New York newscast took part in a rather unusual experiment. During the evening broadcast, the program aired a short film clip. In it, a young woman is strolling down a hallway when a man wearing a leather jacket and sneakers leaps from a doorway, […]
Food Stylist’s Art, The Stewart, Doug Has a delectable ice-cream sundae in a magazine ad ever made your mouth water? Well, your taste buds might be in for a surprise if you could take a bite. Advertising professionals that a scoop of real ice cream melts into a goopy mess under the hot lights of […]
Tunneling Under Water Lindley, David The work was disgusting-foul, dangerous, smelly, and unhealthy. Hundreds of men toiled around the clock in a dimly lit hole in the ground, up to their knees in filthy water, digging through dirt and muck, in constant fear of floods and caveins. Evil-smelling fumes from rotting garbage and gas lamps […]
Chomping to Victory Peterson, Ivars IMAGE AND/OR TEXT OMITTED PER PUBLISHER ProQuest Information and Learning Copyright Carus Publishing Company Feb 2005 Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
SNOWBALL EARTH Walker, Gabrielle Picture a world entirely sheathed in ice, its oceans smothered by a freezing white blanket nearly a mile thick. Vast glaciers creep across the continents. Nothing else moves. There are no clouds, save perhaps a handful of high wispy streaks made from frozen crystals of carbon dioxide. With the temperature a […]
THAt BRUSHWORK IS ALL WROnG If you’re an imitator or a forger of famous paintings, one of the toughest things to get right is the brushwork. Brush strokes, say two seientists at Dartmouth College, are just as individual as handwriting. To prove it they’ve written a computerized art-forgery detector that separates the fake from the […]