Boy or Girl?

May 1, 2002
Parents who smoke produce fewer boys, according to research on Japanese couples. The researchers don?t know why this happens, but say both the mother's and father's smoking habits are important. Stress, temperature, birth order and even the number of wives... continued

What Makes Men Romantic?

May 1, 2002
Men are more likely to pay attention to their female partners around the time of ovulation. This could be an evolutionary strategy to keep women away from other men during fertile periods, say the researchers who carried out the questionnaire... continued

Dentists in Danger

May 1, 2002
Dentists are likely to suffer memory and kidney problems from long-term exposure to the mercury in tooth fillings. A study of 180 dentists by researchers at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland found they had up to four times the... continued

The World?s Getting Older

May 1, 2002
People around the world are having fewer children and living longer. The U.S., Europe and even large parts of the developing world are becoming aging societies without enough social services. In many countries the old are neglected and abused, even... continued

Unwelcome Message in a Plastic Bottle

April 30, 2002
The trash that ends up in the ocean has become a vehicle for the transportation of exotic marine life into new ports. This is threatening global biodiversity, particularly in the Southern Ocean. David Barnes of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)... continued

EPA Cover Up of WTC Toxins

April 30, 2002
Jackie Alan Giuliano writes in the Lycos website that two key figures have resigned from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the last month. Both officials, the chief investigator for the EPA's Ombudsman Office and the Ombudsman himself, stated... continued

Looking for Climate Clues in Alaska

April 30, 2002
Glaciologist Lonnie Thompson, of Ohio State University, wants to read the record of ancient weather trapped inside ice from Alaskan glaciers that date back thousands of years. He?s going on his 44th expedition to the remote region of the Wrangell-St.... continued

Poisonous Chickens

April 30, 2002
Chicken farmers on the Delaware?Maryland?Virginia peninsula are introducing between 20 and 50 tons of arsenic to the environment annually, and researchers aren?t sure where it?s ending up. At some point, this arsenic could contaminate surface and groundwater. The poultry industry... continued

Greek Disease Mystery Solved

April 29, 2002
The virus that has killed 3 people and infected 39 more in Greece has been identified as a member of the human enterovirus family. Preliminary tests by Greece's Special Infections Control Center suggest it could be Coxsackie B. Identifying the... continued

Light Pollution Harms Wildlife

April 29, 2002
Ben Harder writes in Science News that Dr. Kenneth D. Frank and a handful of other scientists are trying to understand the impact of artificial light on a multitude of living creatures. We can see evidence of this ourselves, when... continued