NEW SCIENTIST PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE
2:00 PM EST WEDNESDAY, 4 MARCH 1998
ORDER #1: BRINGING UP BOOZERS
The mere smell of alcohol could turn children into drinkers. Researchers in Philadelphia have found that babies whose parents are potential alcoholics spend more time mouthing toys with a whiff of alcohol than those with no smell. The effect seems to be caused by a general preference for familiar odors. Page 12
ORDER #2: JUST ADD CHILIES
Spices became popular because of their antimicrobial properties, rather than their taste, according to the first comprehensive study of their use. A behavioral ecologist from New York collected recipes from around the world and found that the use of spices is more widespread in hotter countries where food was more likely to spoil. Page 26
ORDER #3: WOMB FOR IMPROVEMENT
Better wombs can produce smarter kids, scientists in the US suggest. Their work shows that genetically identical mouse embryos implanted in different wombs end up performing differently at mental tasks. The research highlights the contribution that good general maternal health can have on cognitive abilities. Page 10
ORDER #4: FOAMING CLEANER
Asbestos can now be eliminated by simply spraying foam on it. Chemists in the US have developed a foam containing acidic chemicals which destroys the asbestos, converting it into harmless minerals. Page 7
ORDER #5: IN A FLASH
Your camera will soon be able to take digital pictures as well as photographs on film. A Californian electronics company has just announced a compact cartridge which fits into the back of any 35-millimetre camera, turning it into a digital camera. Images can be viewed by plugging the cartridge into the back of a computer. Page 6
ORDER #6: THE FORCE OF DARKNESS
A mysterious second type of gravity may help choreograph the motion of matter in the Universe. Physicists in Britain say the force would be felt directly only by matter with a previously unsuspected "gravitational charge". Page 11
ORDER #7: THE INTRATERRESTRIALS
Do other planets harbour life? Or are their conditions simply far too hostile? Well, take a clue from our own planet. Deep in the Earth's crust, undreamt of life forms are scratching out a living on little more than barren rock, and amidst crushing pressures. If life can survive there, why not inside another planet? Pages 28-32
ORDER #8: MAKING WAVES
Meet the physicist who is trying out a radical new way of working with semiconductors. His trick is to do away with the currents of electrons inside computer chips, and make waves instead. Could this be the big idea that will break through computing's speed barrier? Pages 34-37
ORDER #9: ALL THE WORLD'S A TIME MACHINE
Imagine that there are loops in space-time, and that the future can influence the past. One physicist is convinced that this is how the Universe works, and that every particle in the Universe is a tiny time machine. It's an idea that could prove Einstein right after all. Pages 38-41
ORDER #10: IT ALL ADDS UP
When it comes to mathematics, monkeys are better than babies. But do animals have inborn numerical know how? Researchers are getting to the roots of what it takes to deal with numbers. Pages 43-45
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- ENDS -
March 4, 1998
Issue cover date: 7 March, 1998
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