Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
Election projections for science investments
The November 2, mid-term election results are in (mostly) and pundits are billing it as a historic turnabout. With a divided Congress, passing legislation — never an easy task — risks becoming harder still. And with fiscal austerity having been a leading campaign issue for the newbies, R&D is unlikely to see a major boost in federal funding during the next two years.
- Tech
Plenty of foods harbor BPA, study finds
Some communities have banned the sale of plastic baby bottles and sippy cups that are manufactured using bisphenol A, a hormone-mimicking chemical. In a few grocery stores, cashiers have already begun donning gloves to avoid handling thermal receipt paper whose BPA-based surface coating may rub off on the fingers. But how’s a family to avoid exposure to this contaminant when it taints the food supply?
- Health & Medicine
MRIs pinpoint time of stroke
Doing a magnetic resonance scan promptly when a patient arrives at a hospital could render more patients eligible for a time-sensitive clot-busting therapy that can limit brain damage.
- Chemistry
Skin is no barrier to BPA, study shows
The new finding suggests handling store receipts could be a significant source of internal exposure to the hormone-mimicking chemical.
- 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.
