Lead Story
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Researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University reported in June that they had used classical Pavlovian techniques to condition cockroaches to salivate upon smelling a specific odor, thus replicating results seen before only in vertebrates. Also in June Reuters reported on a research team in Temuco, Chile, that claims to have synthesized both a spermicide and a treatment for erectile dysfunction from the venom of the Chilean black widow spider. (Adult male victims of the spider’s bite can experience prolonged, painful erections and spontaneous ejaculation.) And in April scientists at Leicester University and the University of Warwick in the UK announced they had improved the performance of an electronic odor-sensing device by coating it with artificial mucus.
The Continuing Crisis
On June 24 Pablo Castro of Decatur, Illinois, was taken to the hospital twice–once around noon, once at about 11 PM–after receiving stab wounds in arguments with two different people. And in the first week of July, Tony Hicks of Athens, Tennessee, received hospital treatment on three consecutive days for three unrelated injuries: early on Sunday, July 1, the day after his release following a year in jail, he was hit by a car; on Monday night, he reported that an intruder had hit him in the face with a coffee mug while robbing his apartment; and on Tuesday night, he was shot in the abdomen during a standoff with police investigating a convenience-store holdup.
Now Appearing: Jesus
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration by Shawn Belshwender.
