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Shut Up!

April 8, 2002
The world?s first lip-reading cellphone is being developed by researchers at Japanese cellphone maker NTT DoCoMo. All callers will have to do is mouth their words silently, and the phone will convert them to speech or text. This could put... continued

Shampoo May Cause Early Puberty

April 8, 2002
Little girls developing puberty and starting their menstrual periods as early as 8 years old is becoming a major problem in the Western world?and nobody knows why it?s happening. It?s occurring at a time when teenage motherhood is a major... continued

Eskimos Cope With Global Warming

April 8, 2002
Usha Lee McFarling of the Los Angeles Times reports that Eskimos are trying to cope with the fact that the ice in Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland has started to thaw. Thunder and lightning, which were once rare, have become... continued

Will the Next Pope be Black?

April 8, 2002
African Americans won both Best Actor Oscars this year. Now it looks like the next Pope may be black. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican?s doctrinal chief, says an African papacy would ?only be to the Church?s benefit? and a ?wonderful... continued

Bacteria-Colored Blue Jeans

April 5, 2002
Jeans dyed blue by bacteria may soon be available. Walter Weyler and his colleagues at Genencor International in Palo Alto, California have genetically modified bacteria to produce the indigo pigment used to stain denim. The process would be a less-polluting... continued

How to Get a New Face

April 5, 2002
When Jim Alexander backed out of a convenience store where he?d stopped for a cup of coffee in 1996, he crashed his car, which burned for 20 minutes before rescuers could get him out. Burns disfigured his face so badly... continued

How Healing Touch Works

April 5, 2002
For centuries, there have been healers who claim to be able to heal by touch. Now scientists think they?ve discovered the mechanism that makes this work?a natural chemical called immunoglobulin A, which fights invading micro-organisms and diseases. The act of... continued

Asteroid Coming…But Not Too Soon

April 5, 2002
David Braun reports in the National Geographic News that scientists have identified a thousand-yard-wide asteroid that may be heading for a collision with Earth 878 years from now. Using radar and optical measurements made over the past 51 years, researchers... continued

Deserts Spreading Fast Worldwide

April 4, 2002
Desertification is devastating farm production and the variety of plant and animal life in many parts of the world, according to Adel El-Beltagy, director-general of the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Syria. ?We continue to... continued

Bush Gives In to Oil Industry Pressure

April 4, 2002
The Bush administration has withdrawn its support for Robert Watson, the American atmospheric scientist who is seeking re-election as head of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change when it holds its election later this month in Geneva. The State... continued