Новости науки и техники в "Scientific American"

BOOK OF THE MONTH: THE MONKEY IN THE MIRROR by Ian Tattersall.

In his latest book, Tattersall explains how the acquisition of language explains how the acquisition of language and the capacity for symbolic art may lie at the very heart of the extraordinary cognitive abilities that set us apart from the rest of creation.

FIRST CASE OF AIDS-LIKE VIRUS IN A WILD CHIMPANZEE

One of the many daunting questions facing researchers studying the AIDS virus is where, exactly, it came from. The prevailing theory suggests that it arose from a related disease - simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) - that jumped from chimpanzees to humans. To date, however, only a few captive animals have tested positive for the virus, puzzling scientists looking for a natural reservoir of SIV in the wild. Now a new report describes the first case of SIV discovered in a wild chimpanzee, providing further clues as to where the origins of AIDS may lie.

TEACHING ROBOT DOGS NEW TRICKS

Aibo, the Sony Corporation's popular robot dog, has delighted scores of consumers, but caused its creators some grief. Sony is struggling to resolve a copyright dispute that centers on the work of a quirky hacker and that exposes a potentially stifling effect of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

PHYSICISTS OBSERVE THE QUANTUM EFFECTS OF GRAVITY

At large scales, the effects of gravity are easy enough to see: think falling apples, or the movement of planets around the sun. At the atomic level, however, the force is extremely weak, making its quantum effects difficult to measure. But observations detailed in a new report finally confirm what quantum rules predict: namely, that elementary particles under the influence of gravity move from one energy state to another by making, well, quantum leaps.

STUDY FINDS ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN NICOTINE METABOLISM

Smoking is a risky habit regardless of an individual's ethnicity, but that's not to say that everyone responds to it the same way. Indeed, scientists have known of certain ethnic variations for some time. A new study confirms that view. According to the report, Chinese- Americans take in less nicotine per cigarette and metabolize it more slowly than do Latinos or whites, which could help explain why Chinese-Americans have a lower rate of lung cancer than other groups do.

FOR WOMEN, SUPPRESSING EMOTIONS INCREASES ANGER

Women who hold back feelings of anger may end up more irate in the long run. According to new research, women experience a rebound effect when they suppress angry emotions, which can result in greater feelings of fury. In addition, women in the study who initially suppressed their rage reported a greater desire to swear than men did.

ASK THE EXPERTS: WHY DOES YOUR STOMACH GROWL WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY?

Mark A.W. Andrews, associate professor of physiology at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, provides an explanation.