Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
BP gusher left deep sea toxic for a time, study finds
In the early weeks after the damaged BP well began gushing huge quantities of oil and gas, a toxic brew was developing deep below the surface in plumes emanating from the wellhead. Finned fish and marine mammals probably steered well clear of the spewing hydrocarbons. But planktonic young — larval critters and algae that ride the currents — would have been proverbial sitting ducks.
- Tech
Trading places
As the pace of financial transactions accelerates, researchers look forward to a time when the only limiting factor is the speed of light.
- Health & Medicine
The fingers don’t lie
The brain has at least two copy editors, typing experiments show.
- Humans
Deep African roots for toolmaking method
A method for trimming stone-tool edges appeared 75,000 years ago in southern Africa, archaeologists contend, long before previous evidence of the practice.
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- Life
1000 Genomes pilot a hit with geneticists
The first stage of a project to probe human genetic diversity has found millions of new variations.
- Health & Medicine
Pancreatic cancer years in the making
A decade elapses from the first cancer-related mutation to tumor formation, and several more years pass until the disease spreads to other organs, a new study finds. The work raises the possibility that a usually deadly malignancy can be treated before it’s too late.
- Humans
Weighing risks, convicts display blind spots
Prisoners often don’t appreciate likely gains or losses in making decisions, a finding with possible policy implications.
- Humans
When to welcome ‘invading’ species
As climate changes, some environments are becoming hostile to the flora and fauna that long nurtured them. Species that can migrate have begun to move into regions where temperatures and humidity are more hospitable. And that can prove a conundrum for officials charged with halting the invasion of non-native species, notes Jon Jarvis, a biologist who for the past year has headed the National Park Service.
- Humans
Should health care workers be required to get flu vaccinations?
Mandatory policies increase participation at some hospitals, but are still disputed by unions and some staffers.
- Humans
GNP’s glaciers: Going, going . . .
Climate warming will eliminate them within a generation, data indicate.
- Chemistry
Breathe better with bitter
Taste receptors in the lungs open airways in response to acrid gases.
