Sid's Science Stories (UPI)
The stories below were written while Sid was a "stringer" on
the Science Desk at UPI's Washington Bureau in June, July and August of
1997.
Scroll through the entire list, or click on the following links and
"short-cut" to these categories:
Copyright on all stories: 1997, United Press
International.
All rights reserved.
Astronomy
Meteorite yields new mineral
-
- WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- Scientists say they
have found the first naturally occurring sample of a mineral thought to
exist only deep within the Earth. But they found it in a very unlikely
place ... in a rock that fell from outer space.
(Full
story)
Scientists discover asteroid's moon
-
- WASHINGTON, July 25 (UPI) -- Scientists have found
an asteroid with its own moon. This discovery, the second of its kind,
strengthens the belief among many astronomers that such objects could be
relatively common.
(Full
story)
Our moon formed by planetary collision
-
- CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 28 (UPI) -- Scientists say
a rogue planet three times as massive as Mars probably sideswiped Earth
4.5 billion years ago, and our moon is the result.
(Full
story)
Ice particles contribute to comet tail
-
- WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- Astronomers have used
observations from Earth's 1996 close encounter with Comet Hyakutake to
confirm an idea first suggested in the 1970s -- that much of the gas
produced by a comet comes from an ice particle halo.
(Full
story)
Health & Medicine
Technique may end need for some biopsies
-
- WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) -- Researchers have
developed an "optical biopsy" that may lead to a noninvasive technique to
detect the early stages of tissue damage associated with cancer and
atherosclerosis.
(Full
story)
Children hazardous to mother's health
-
- DURHAM, N.C., July 22 (UPI) -- A scientific study
confirms what working mothers have known for years -- children can be
hazardous to your health.
(Full
story)
Ammonia boosts nicotine from smoke
-
- WASHINGTON, July 29 (UPI) -- Research shows that
ammonia in cigarette tobacco can boost the availability of nicotine from
the smoke up to 100 times.
(Full
story)
Illicit drug use down, teen use flat
-
- WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Health officials
announce drug abuse among teens has fallen for the first time since
1992.
(Full
story)
Tumor gene found for disorder
-
- WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Scientists say they
have identified the second of two genes known to cause tumors associated
with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a relatively common developmental
disorder.
(Full
story)
Health Policy
Access to MEDLINE database now free
-
- WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) -- Vice President Gore
announced that world's largest medical database is now free, and available
on the World Wide Web. MEDLINE, which contains nearly 9 million entries
from all fields of medicine and is growing by more than 1,000 entries per
day, had been available only to those who registered and paid a fee.
(Full
story)
Government to review data on saccharin
-
- RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., July 18 (UPI) -- The National
Toxicology Program plans to review data that could remove saccharin from
the U.S. government's official list of cancer-causing agents.
(Full
story)
Health societies want deal changed
-
- WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- The American Cancer Society
recommends changes in the proposed settlement between the tobacco industry
and the attorneys general of 40 states. Also today, the American Lung
Association called the proposed tobacco settlement's advertising
provisions "a mere inconvenience to the tobacco industry."
(Full
story)
NIH panel reports on medical marijuana
-
- WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Health officials have released an
expert panel's report about the possible medical uses of marijuana and --
in short -- the report says more and better research into the issue is
needed.
(Full
story)
FDA issues draft rules for TV drug ads
-
- WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Radio and tv prescription drug ads
may soon be more numerous, and include what the medication is sold
for. FDA officials describe the agency's new draft guidance as a
"practical approach for broadcast advertisers."
(Full
story)
Drug companies praise new FDA ad rules
-
- WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Manufacturers of prescription drugs
have reacted quickly and positively to the Food and Drug Administration's
proposed guidelines regarding broadcast advertisements for their
products.
(Full
story)
Technology
"Lab-on-a-chip" may soon be possible
-
- WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., June 27 (UPI) -- New manufacturing
techniques for semiconductors may do for the chemistry lab what
transistors did for the radio in the 1960s. Purdue University researcher
Fred Reigner has developed a way to shrink specialized instruments from
the chemistry lab onto a computer chip, reducing them in size from one
thousand to one million times.
(Full
story)
New material may make holograms common
-
- LAKE FOREST, Ill., July 22 (UPI) -- The ability to mass-produce
true-color holograms may soon bring the laser-generated images out of the
lab and into everyday life.
(Full
story)
NOTE: Lake Forest College has posted this article on their website,
at
http://www.lfc.edu/physics/holography. Just go to the linked Website,
click on "Articles", and look for the "Sid Perkins"
byline!
Internet behavior shows greed at work
-
- WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- Research suggests that a simple
aspect of human nature -- greed -- is causing traffic jams on the
Information Superhighway.
(Full
story)
Wisconsin company announces cloning of calf
-
- DEFOREST, Wis., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin company says it has
successfully cloned a Holstein calf. ABS Global, Inc., which has a 56-year
history in the cattle breeding business, will announce the details of the
cloning at a news conference at their headquarters in DeForest tomorrow.
(Full
story)
Wis. company announces cloning of calf
-
- DEFOREST, Wis., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A six-month-old Holstein named
"Gene" was trotted onto the stage today as the world's latest celebrity
cloned animal as officials announced plans to commercialize the cloning
process.
(Full
story)
Miscellaneous
Geologists study fossil rat urine
-
- WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- The accuracy of a standard
technique of dating artifacts could be called into question by new
evidence from an old source -- ancient packrat urine.
(Full
story)
Funky flavors that never quite made it
-
- COLUMBIA, Mo., July 28 (UPI) -- Most ice cream connoisseurs
don't know what they're missing. But Robert Marshall knows. He has seen
and tasted varieties of ice cream that many of us could, or should, only
imagine.
(Full
story)
Cluster of ancient shipwrecks found
-
- WASHINGTON, July 30 (UPI) -- Underwater explorers announce they
have discovered the largest group of ancient shipwrecks ever found in deep
water. Bob Ballard, known for exploring the sunken remains of the luxury
liner Titanic, and his team of researchers earlier this summer located a
cluster of eight ships deep in the Mediterranean Sea.
(Full
story)
Finding shipwrecks with high technology
-
- WASHINGTON, July 30 (UPI) -- Underwater archaeologists are
using the latest in technology to explore the oldest of shipwrecks -- and
they're doing it in ever deeper waters.
(Full
story)
Copyright on all stories: 1997, United Press
International.
All rights reserved.