Science Stories

A Prayer for Archimedes

admin — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:09:18 -0400

For seventy years, a prayer book moldered in the closet of a family in France, passed down from one generation to the next. Its mildewed parchment pages were stiff and contorted, tarnished by burn marks and waxy smudges. Behind the text of the prayers, faint Greek letters marched in lines up the page, with an occasional diagram disappearing into the spine. The owners wondered if the strange book might have some value, so they took it to Christie's Auction House of London. And in 1998, Christie's auctioned it off—for two million dollars.

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Microsoft Launches Health Records Site

admin — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 11:24:39 -0400

SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. launched a Web site Thursday for managing personal health and medical information, but privacy advocates worry that neither the technology nor U.S. law will protect patients' most confidential details. From the consumer's point of view, Microsoft's HealthVault site is part filing cabinet, part library and part fax machine for an individual's or a family's medical records and notes.

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Researchers unravel the secrets of spider silk's strength

admin — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:28:50 -0400

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Ten Ways to Defeat Brain Drain

admin — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:44:13 -0500

Those of us who are busy all the time can experience burnout, exhaustion, and fatigue from spending long periods of time in focused concentration. I call this syndrome "Brain Drain." I used to call it "SAT head" because many students report that after taking the SAT tests, they feel an odd mental exhaustion caused by too much focused thinking. Brain drain, if gone unchecked, can result in depression, stress, and even anger if you push after the drain has set in.

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