News

  1. Anthropology

    Did small hominids have a genetic defect?

    Miniature humans whose prehistoric remains were recently unearthed on an Indonesian island may have had a genetic disease known as Laron syndrome.

    By Ben Harder
  2. Health & Medicine

    Growth hormone’s risks outweigh its benefits

    Human growth hormone has substantial risks and no functional benefits for healthy, elderly people.

    By Ben Harder
  3. Earth

    Asbestos fibers: Barking up a tree

    Sixteen years after a mine with asbestos-contaminated ore shut down, trees in the area still hold hazardous concentrations of wind-deposited asbestos.

    By Janet Raloff
  4. Health & Medicine

    Mad cow disease might linger longer

    A rare but deadly human illness spread by cannibalism has an incubation period in some individuals of about 4 decades.