Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
Preventing disastrous offshore spills may require space-program diligence
As crude oil continues to spew from the Gulf of Mexico seafloor — two weeks now after the Deepwater Horizon accident and sinking — questions continue to surface about what went wrong. To my mind, what went wrong was almost blind optimism on the part of industry, regulators, the states and the public. And any niggling doubt about the wisdom of that optimism was likely assuaged by at least a little greed.
- Earth
BP oil rig’s sinking and gushing crude raise questions
Around 10 p.m. local time on April 20, the Deepwater Horizon — a floating oil-drilling platform leased to British Petroleum — suffered an explosion and fire about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast. While the aftermath of that devastating accident is now being observed and chronicled in painful detail, even the most basic features of what triggered it remain sketchy.
- Health & Medicine
Epigenetic changes show up in people with PTSD
Study finds alterations in genes tied to immune system and brain development, but whether they cause the disorder remains unclear.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin D: Obese and ‘uniform’ risks
Although Vitamin D insufficiency has reached what might be considered epidemic proportions, it’s failed to move onto the radar screens of most physicians, much less consumers. A host of new studies now link excess weight with a deficiency in this, the sunshine vitamin. But that wouldn’t explain why female soldiers become increasing D-ficient during basic combat training. For them, an Army study suggests, the problem may trace to what they wear.
- Life
DNA comparison of identical twins finds no silver bullet for MS
The first study of its kind suggests an unknown environmental cause for multiple sclerosis, but future research could still yield a genetic trigger.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin E, diabetes drug may reverse fatty liver disease
Test results in obese people suggest these two treatments may work against cirrhosis precursor.
- Physics
Army takes gun acoustics beyond ‘bang’
Dissecting the sound of weapon fire may give soldiers an edge.
- Materials Science
Infection, kill thyself
Scientists devise wound dressings that trick bacteria into suicide.
- Health & Medicine
Chili pepper holds hot prospects for painfree dieting
A cousin of the chemical that packs the heat in chilis not only can rev up the body’s metabolism but actually encourage it to preferentially burn fat, according to a new trial in obese men and women. And the kicker: The molecule is itself so fat that it can’t fit into the receptors that would ordinarily register pain.
- Humans
Vision gets better with the right mind-set
Volunteers’ eyesight improved when they believed that they could see particularly well.
- Health & Medicine
This off-white rice may be heart healthy
The outer coating of a semi-polished rice – a layer which manufacturers ordinarily polish off of brown rice in the process of making it white – offers cardiovascular benefits, new data indicate.
- Ecosystems
Forests on the wane
Early last decade, the world’s tree coverage dropped by more than 3 percent.
