"The Eagle's Nest'' by Samantha Parker in Sky & Telescope, February 1996, pp 32-34. These Hubble Space Telescope images of interstellar clouds in the Eagle Nebula, 7,000 light years from earth, are spectacular.
"Chess Champion Sinks Deep Blue's Figuring'' by I. Peterson in Science News149, February 24, 1996, p 119. Kasparov maintained his superiority in chess over the IBM computer by 3 wins, 2 ties, and 1 loss. He did this by learning the computer's weaknesses during the first game, which he lost.
"1995: Maybe it Wasn't Such a Hot Year, After All'' by Sallie Baliunas in Citizen Outlook11, No. 1, March/April 1996, available from P. O. Box 65722, Washington, DC 20035. This is a short, concise article for the layman showing that the crisis scenario global warming predictions are not in agreement with experiment and that actual warming can be expected to be insignificant.
"Grand Opening, Japan Starts World's First Advanced Reactor'' in Nuclear Energy Insight 96, February 1996, pp 1-4, available from the Nuclear Energy Institute, 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400, Washing-ton, DC 20006-3708. Japan built and brought this power plant into operation in 52 months.
"Research Attacks Immune System Theory'' by J. E. Bishop in The Wall Street Journal, March 22 (1996), p B5. This new hypothesis suggests that the immune system is activated by specific danger signals rather than by learning the difference between self and nonself as has been believed for half a century. If this should turn out to be correct, it would have remarkable ramifications in medical science.
Science Without Sense, The Risky Business of Public Health Research by Steven Milloy published by the Cato Institute, 1000 Massa-chusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20001. This is a hilarious "guide'' for the young professional wishing to make a career in risk assessment and public health. It would be even funnier if so much of the author's advice were not excruciatingly correct.
"A New Dawn for Sun-Climate Links?'' by Richard A. Kerr, Science 271, pp 1360-1361, 8 March 1996. Complete with a graph showing correlation between the Earth's temperature and the Sun's activity, this article demonstrates that more scientists are inching toward a realization that the weather is warmer when the Sun shines more brightly, which has previously been recognized by only a select few.
