ANTHROPOLOGY 101 The Poles once considered it unlucky to refuse the request of a pregnant woman. If you did, it was thought, mice would come and chew your clothes. PRIME NUMBERS 9.5 - Average number of species added each year to the U.S. endangered species list by federal officials under George W. Bush PRIME NUMBERS - The average number of species added each year to the U.S. endangered species list by federal officials under George ... [full story]

To reach the public, communicators urged to focus locally, with targeted approaches Americans believe global warming is real but a moderate and distant risk. While they strongly support policies like investing in renewable energy, higher fuel economy standards and international treaties, they strongly oppose carbon taxes on energy sources that put carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. These results were reported by Anthony Leiserowitz, a courtesy professor of environmental studies at the University of Oregon, in ... [full story]

Spring break is coming. So is prom. Tanning salons are gearing up for the herd of high school-age and college-age young people trying to color winter-pale skin with UVA and UVB rays obtained through daily sessions in tanning beds. And, as surely as spring will give way to summer, medical experts are urging extreme caution, whether the rays they seek are natural or indoors. CATCH RAYS WITH CAUTION - Life under the sun is much ... [full story]

A high-pitched, shrill whistle rumbles from deep inside the chest of a majestic bull elk (Cervus elaphus) and echoes through the aspen-dotted hills in the evening's final light. The sound, now as recognizable to millions of Americans as the animal that produced it, could mean lots of things: a long-distance call to a prospective mate or a warning to intruding bulls to stay away. But for those whose hairs still stand on end when they ... [full story]

Poorly managed marine fisheries are in trouble around the world, researchers say, while ecosystem-based management is a powerful idea that in theory could help ensure sustainable catches - but too often there’s a gap in translating broad concepts into specific action in the oceans that successfully meets these larger goals. To address that, Mark Hixon, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University, today modified a very old set of rules and issued “Ten Commandments” ... [full story]

Many commercially prized fish from the depths of the world’s oceans are severely threatened by over-fishing and the species’ ability to recover is constrained by the fishes’ long lifespans and low reproductive success, a panel of experts said today at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science. Some of the fish species living at depths greater than 500 meters take decades to reach breeding maturity, so there are no quick-fix ... [full story]

One driver was cited in a two-vehicle collision on slush and snow-covered Highway 97 south of Bend Thursday morning -- an accident that sent two adults and two children to the hospital and closed the highway for one-half hour, authorities reported. About 10:30 a.m. February 22, Oregon State Police (OSP) were called to the scene of the accident near milepost 147 on Highway 97, about three miles north of Lava Butte and south of Bend. ... [full story]

Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin retracted a stuck antenna on a cargo spacecraft during a 6-hour, 18-minute spacewalk that ended at 10:45 a.m. CST Thursday.On Oct. 26, the antenna failed to retract when the Progress vehicle docked to the station's Zvezda Service Module. Moving the antenna was necessary to ensure it would not interfere with the Progress undocking in April.Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin had planned to release the antenna latch with ... [full story]

Clothes made out of items such as soda cans and garbage bags will be on display on Wednesday, Feb. 28, when Oregon State University’s annual recycled fashion show returns to campus. Titled “Garbage Montage,” the show will start at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union ballroom. It is free and open to the public. The annual event is funded, planned and organized by student club OSU Fashion Organization. Most of the student designers are studying ... [full story]

A study being published this week suggests that gas and vapor movement to the top of the magma body may have caused fairly rapid increases in pressure and could have been the triggering mechanism that caused Mount St. Helens to erupt in both 1980 and 2004. Researchers used analysis of the trace element lithium to reach these conclusions, finding that crystals in the erupting lava were highly enriched with lithium in the first few weeks ... [full story]