SCIENCE & HEALTH

Reed Saxon

Speaking, second from right, is Dr. Clark Chapman of the Southwest Research Institute, as scientists discuss discoveries on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa at a news conference in 1997.

• Southwest Research Institute Invents the Future

At the foot of the Hill Country of south-central Texas, at the Southwest Research Institute, a thousand scientists try to solve a thousand problems every day. They’re working on behalf of the U.S government, American corporations and other clients from around the world. Since the San Antonio-based Institute was founded in 1947, its researchers have built instruments to measure particles in outer space, made cars run more efficiently and helped laundry detergents do a better job of cleaning clothes. . . . (for more, click).

• Mineral-Water Spas in Texas

Texas’ many sources of fresh, sweet water have sustained human life for many thousands of years. Ancient Indian artifacts — metates and manos (stones for grinding grain), arrowheads and hand axes, flint quarries and rock paintings — are clustered around freshwater springs in every region of the state and give mute evidence of camp sites used long before Anglo settlers arrived. Similar artifacts reveal that ancient inhabitants also gathered around springs that produce heavily mineralized water. (All non-distilled water contains some amount of dissolved minerals, also called “salts.” Water with a combined mineral content greater than 500 milligrams per liter is called mineral water.). . . . (for more, click).

• Scientific Balloons in Texas

The balloons stand taller than the San Jacinto Monument when they are launched from the NASA facility in Palestine. And by the time they come down somewhere in West Texas, Texans from as far away as Sulphur Springs in North Texas and Amarillo in the Panhandle will have taken part in the scientific research. . . . (for more, click).

• The Ubiquitous Mesquite

The ubiquitous mesquite grows — nay, flourishes — on at least one-third of the land area of the state; that is, on more than 56 million of Texas’ 167.5 million acres of land, from the Rio Grande to the Panhandle, across Central and North Central Texas, and into much of West Texas. Seven varieties of mesquite grow in Texas. The most widely distributed is Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa, also called honey mesquite. . . . (for more, click).

• Horned Lizards Leave for West, South Texas

In polite society the horny toad is known as the Texas horned lizard. In the scientific world, the reptile is referred to as Phrynosoma cornutum. But fewer people are referring to the dinosaur-looking creature at all, since it began to disappear from Texas backyards over the past few decades. After the 1950s, its range began to recede to generally west of a line from Fort Worth through Austin and San Antonio to Corpus Christi on the Gulf Coast. . . . (for more, click).

In the Texas Almanac 2008-2009

• Health statistics by county

• Number of physicians, by county

• Number of hospital beds, by county

• Birth, death rates

• Leading causes of death

• List of Texans in the National Academy of Sciences

• Research funding for universities