EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE 1400 HOURS (EST)
WEDNESDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2000
ORDER ARTICLE #1: FAKING IT
Male snakes awakening from hibernation masquerade as females as a smart sexual strategy. Australian and American researchers noticed that male garter snakes start cross dressing when they are still weak from hibernation, preventing them from wasting valuable energy on courting. Page 6
ORDER ARTICLE #2 : THE EXPRESSO ROUTE TO HEART DISEASE
It seems that filtering coffee does not protect against a chemical linked to heart disease and strokes as originally thought. Researchers in the Netherlands found increased levels of homocysteine in both filtered and unfiltered coffee drinkers, compared with non-coffee drinkers. Page 15
ORDER ARTICLE #3 : FOUL FARE FOR FISH
African fish could be a cheap way to clean up the water from sewage plants. Few sewage works remove phosphorus and nitrogen from the water which trigger devastating blooms of algae. A waste-water purification system developed in Texas could remove these nutrients by letting fish graze on the algae. Page 20
ORDER ARTICLE #4 : IT'S GOTTA BE YOU
If you find it hard duplicating your exact signature while standing in an awkward position at a shop counter, an electronic pen will be able to identify you. This signature recognition system, developed in Israel, captures the rhythm and pressure of the original signature, ensuring that the signature cannot be forged. Page 11
ORDER ARTICLE #5 : OLD LEAVES TELL STORY OF POTATO BLIGHT
For the first time, scientists have extracted fungal DNA from dried potato leaves left over from the infamous potato famine in 19th-century Ireland. The genetic material could one day help modern farmers control potato blight. Page 16
ORDER ARTICLE #6 : GUT REACTION
Morphine may be one unrecognized reason why intravenous drug users with AIDS seem to suffer severe bouts of Salmonella poisoning. Microbiologists from Philadelphia found that pain-deadening morphine can make it harder to fight off gut infections. Page 17
ORDER ARTICLE #7 : GAME OF LIFE
A computer built from RNA has solved a chess puzzle. The success is a step forward for DNA-based computers which, unlike normal computers, can test massive amounts of solutions simultaneously, at least in theory. Page 7
ORDER ARTICLE #8 : CAUGHT NAPPING
Conditions such as Parkinson's, depression and obsessive compulsive disorders may all be united by a common feature. Researchers believe they are all triggered by sleep-like rhythms within the small region of the brain called the thalamus. Pages 43-45
ORDER ARTICLE #9 : RANDOM REALITY
Space, time and all the objects around us are nothing but randomness, according to two Australian physicists. If they are right, they have created the most fundamental of all physical theories to explain the stuff of reality. Pages 25-28
ORDER ARTICLE #10 : THE FORCE
Mitochondria have traditionally been viewed merely as "power plants" generating the bulk of the cell's energy. But research over the past few years has revealed their secret powers. Mitochondria could influence your health, have a say in when you die and might even explain why people come in two sexes. Pages 30-35
ORDER ARTICLE #11 : VOICES FROM THE PAST
What do modern languages tell us about our distant ancestors? One linguist believes that by looking at similarities in grammar you can reveal the movements of languages and people over tens of thousands of years. Pages 36-40
ORDER ARTICLE #12 : GOING TO EXTREMES
Michael Ray Taylor is a caver who gladly braves the extremes of temperature, pressure and acidity. He tells New Scientist how his explorations also provide research scientists with samples of microbes that thrive in these conditions. Pages 46-49
US GEOGRAPHIC INDEX
DELAWARE: #7
NEW JERSEY:#7
NORTH CAROLINA:#5
OREGON:#1
PENNSYLVANIA:#6
TEXAS:#3"ยข
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Issue cover date:- 26 FEBRUARY 2000
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