http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com Science, Insight, Summary, Smithsonain.com Thu, 08 May 2008 19:39:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en You'd think one of the benefits of living in frigid Antarctica would be putting some distance between you and your warm-weather neighbors. But at least for Adelie penguins, the world seems to be a smaller place than that. Enthusiastic use of potent insecticides became the ecological nightmare of the mid-20th century. ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/292 Ah, the sounds of spring in the office. The rustling of e-mail being answered: Clackety-clickety-clackety-clack. The last of the water running through the coffee maker: Schwerp, schwerp-et, schwerp, schwerp-et. And of course, CLANGA CLANGA CLANGA CLANGA. That's the construction crew on the never-ending project next door. OK, ready for something perhaps ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/290 The closest living relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex are birds such as chickens and ostriches, according to research published today in Science (and promptly reported in the New York Times). Paleontologists used material discovered in a chance find in 2003 to pin down the link. The dinosaur-ness of birds has been suspected ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/288 One of the most talked-about outcomes of climate change is global sea-level rise--perhaps because the effects are straightforward and tangible: If sea level rises by this much, wipe this much of Florida (Bangladesh, Venice, Vancouver, Togo, the U.K., etc.) off the map. That's a lot more immediate than envisioning the ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/285 It was just three years ago that Hurricane Rita stormed the Texas coastline, mere weeks after Katrina flattened Louisiana. While New Orleans struggles to rebuild, Texas seems to have forgiven, forgotten, and embraced the sunny weather. The Houston Chronicle reports that development values along the state's picturesque Gulf Coast have ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/280 A few weeks ago we wished Darwin a happy 199th, so here's three cheers for the Keeling Curve (above) passing the big 5-0. Described by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, in only a bit of a stretch, as “one of the iconic images of science, rivaling the double helix or Darwin’s ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/269 As a native Michigander, I'm a sucker for news about the Great Lakes. (That's HOMES, remember? Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.) Engineers at the U of M Marine Hydronamics Laboratory have now designed a boat without a ballast tank in order to prevent the introduction of non-native species. A ballast ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/263 If you've ever gone swimming in places like the Sea of Cortez during summer, or even in a sluggish Florida bayou, you've probably noticed how it's possible for ocean water to be too warm. Where you begin to suspect that you may still be sweating, even though you are under ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/261 A decade ago, thanks to the Federal Endangered Species Act, gray wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park. Conservationists have since used radio collars and overhead surveillance technologies to keep track of the animals' whereabouts. But at the end of this month, federal support will dissolve—meaning scientists will no longer ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/260 Here at The Gist we were going to try to make it through the week without saying anything about any former New York governers - because, you know, ew. But as you may have noticed, that hasn't stopped everyone else in the world. And then ace Gist-er Virginia Hughes ... http://thegist.smithsonianmag.com/archives/259