p It has been 22 years since the last 22 California condors ( Gymnogyps californianus ) were collected from the wild and placed in captive breeding programs. The species, which nearly went extinct due to habitat loss, poaching, DDT and lead poisoning, has since rebounded to 332 birds, according to counts maintained by the Zoological Society of San Diego . But despite that conservation success, condors still face a major threat from lead poisoning, which often occurs when the birds eat carcasses killed by hunters lead ammunition. a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=fight-to-protect-california-condors-2009-11-20[More]/a
pNearly a year ago, toxicologist Linda Birnbaum was named director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program. She sat down with Environmental Health News journalist Jane Kay in San Francisco on Wednesday to answer questions about the environmental health risks we face today. a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bisphenol-bpa-linda-birnbaum-health-chemical-contaminants[More]/a
p Just days after the release of controversial new guidelines recommending against routine mammograms for most women under 50, a different group of medical professionals has announced that the frequency of Pap tests for cervical cancer detection should also be decreased for most women. a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=women-should-undergo-fewer-pap-test-2009-11-20[More]/a
pWe humans are known to help out members of our own families. When it comes to business we call it nepotism. Now plants have demonstrated the same predilection, in a study published in the American Journal of Botany . a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=plants-share-light-if-neighbor-is-r-09-11-20[More]/a
a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=leading-british-climate-centre[More]/a
p Parents and Peers As a psychologist very familiar with the research, I think in ldquo; Do Parents Matter? rdquo; Judith Harris is conflating personality and behavior, which are two different concepts. Personality has more to do with genetic traits related to mood and energy (which plenty of research indicates are strongly influenced by genetics). Behavior, on the other hand, depends on context and is guided by laws of behaviorism--that is, reinforcement principles. If parents do (or do not) provide reinforcement for specific types of behavior, you will either see or not see those behaviors. Likewise, certain behaviors will be reinforced in the classroom by teachers./p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=letters-mind-nov-09[More]/a
pWhen I saw the statement repeated online that theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking of the University of Cambridge would be dead by now if he lived in the U.K. and had to depend on the National Health Service (he, of course, is alive and working in the U.K., where he always has), I reflected on something I had written a dozen years ago, in one of my first published commentaries:/ppldquo;The increasingly blatant nature of the nonsense uttered with impunity in public discourse is chilling. Our democratic society is imperiled as much by this as any other single threat, regardless of whether the origins of the nonsense are religious fanaticism, simple ignorance or personal gain.rdquo;/p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=war-is-peace[More]/a
