Новости науки и техники в "Scientific American"

DIET MAY CUT CHOLESTEROL AS MUCH AS DRUGS DO

Eating a diet similar to that of our ape ancestors can have as much of an effect on cholesterol levels as modern medicine does, a new study suggests. Recent research indicates that a strict, low-fat vegetarian diet high in specific plant products can lower levels of bad cholesterol as much as widely prescribed statin drugs can.

GENETIC ANALYSIS REVISES TALLY OF PAST WHALE POPULATIONS

Whales can be difficult creatures to track. To determine how many of the animals lived in the ocean before commercial whaling brought the population to the brink of extinction, conservationists rely on hunting logbooks dating from as far back as the 17th century. This method has produced historical estimates of approximately 20,000 humpback and between 30,000 to 50,000 fin whales in the North Atlantic. A new genetic analysis, however, indicates that there may have once been 10 times this number of leviathans.

BOOKSTORE: THE PATHOLOGICAL PROTEIN: MAD COW, CHRONIC WASTING AND OTHER DEADLY PRION DISEASES by Philip Yam

Prions are unusual proteins that represent a class of pathogens that destroy brain tissue. Indestructible via standard sterilization, prions lie behind illnesses including mad cow disease and, in humans, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and fatal insomnia. This book tells the strange story of their discovery and the medical controversies that swirl around them.

NANOTECH: IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

Potential applications for nanotechnology range from capsules that can administer medicine to individual cells to more efficient electronics. Indeed, the National Science Foundation predicts that the field could potentially grow into a $1-trillion industry annually by 2015. But the potential health and environmental impacts of nanomaterials are raising concern and researchers and activists are at odds over how to proceed.

SHORT TRAINING PERIOD CAN STRENGTHEN KEY REGIONS OF DYSLEXIC BRAINS

For the 10 to 15 percent of school-aged children in the U.S. who suffer from dyslexia, the written word often feels like an insurmountable obstacle. But a spate of research is helping scientists get to the root of the condition and suggest novel methods of treatment. New findings suggest that some therapies can make a difference quickly. Scientists report that dyslexic children showed normal brain activation patterns during reading tests after just three weeks of specialized instruction.

DRUG SHOWS PROMISE AS DIABETES PILL

Researchers have discovered a molecule that stages a two-pronged attack on diabetes in rats and mice, a new study suggests. The results could aid in the development of novel drugs to treat some of the 18 million people who suffer from the disease.

ASK THE EXPERTS: DO CORKED BATS ALLOW BASEBALL PLAYERS TO HIT FARTHER?

Porter Johnson, a physics professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and an avid baseball fan, explains.