February 1, 2011

1 min read

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News Scan

By George Hackett

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Genius

  • Astrophysicists estimate the universe contains 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars—three times as many as previously thought. Planets, of course, are extra.

  • A study of the benefits of low-dose aspirin against heart disease reveals that the drug also cut the risk of death from many cancers.

  • 1. NASA hints at discovery of extraterrestrial life-form. 2. Actually it’s an Earth-based microbe...but it eats arsenic! 3. Other scientists call the research shoddy.

  • Western countries shocked that teenagers in Shanghai trounce them in math, science and reading scores. Not shocking: they studied harder.

  • Calcium and vitamin D supplements are probably unnecessary for most people, adding to the list of contradictory advice.

  • Self-styled WikiLeaks “avengers” cause shutdowns of “enemy” Web sites, including Visa, MasterCard...and Sarah Palin.

Folly

More by George Hackett
Scientific American Magazine Vol 304 Issue 2This article was published with the title “News Scan” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 304 No. 2 (), p. 32
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0211-32b
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