Health & Medicine
- Health & Medicine
Different berries, similar cancer-fighting effects
Animal tests suggest that esophageal and breast cancer might make good targets for several types of berries as dietary supplements.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
What’s missing may be key to understanding genetics of autism
A large study of people with the developmental disorder reveals the importance of extremely rare variations in genes, making each case a bit different.
- Health & Medicine
In youth hockey, more contact means more injuries
Concussions are three times more common among 11- to 12-year-olds in leagues that permit checking, a Canadian study finds.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
New angle on treating sepsis
An enzyme that plays a role in the lethal inflammatory disorder may be a suitable drug target, early tests show.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Understanding why hot peppers are slimming
Korean researchers describe pepper-triggered changes in genes that appear to underlie the fat-shunning changes of chilis — ones that point to how their fiery chemistry might be harnessed to fight obesity.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Shark cartilage doesn’t appear to help lung cancer
Patients taking an extract show no improvement.
- Health & Medicine
Tiny blood vessels expel clots by force
A study in mice uncovers a new way that capillaries keep the flow going.
- Health & Medicine
Immune traits may identify lucky kidney-transplant recipients
Tests find a genetic signature that may delineate people who could drop immune-suppression therapy.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
Teeth as a forensic clock
Here’s something we’re likely to see that endearing techno whiz kid, Abby Sciuto, whip out of her forensic arsenal next season on NCIS. They’re chemical and nuclear technologies to date teeth. When paired up, new research indicates, they’ll identify not only when people were born but also the age at which they clocked out — thereby pointing to the general date of death.
By Janet Raloff - Physics
Some ‘ball lightning’ reports may be hallucinations
Magnetic fields generated by real bolts could trigger visual effects in the brain.
- Chemistry
Exposure of moms-to-be to hormone-mimicking chemical may affect kids years later
In mice, BPA can cause pregnancy complications that can also trigger later metabolic effects in both moms and grown male offspring.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Behavioral therapy can help kids with Tourette disorder
A ten-week course of practicing techniques to countermand tics works better than counseling.
By Nathan Seppa