Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
Baby’s calcium might play defining role in adult bone health
Calcium makes bones strong. But a new animal study suggests that to do this, ample calcium may need to be available from birth. Too little in the early weeks of life may reprogram certain stem cells – those in the marrow – in ways that permanently compromise bone structure. Perhaps even fostering osteoporosis.
- Health & Medicine
Body makes its own morphine
A study in mice suggests other mammals, including humans, can produce the painkiller in their bodies.
- Health & Medicine
Women of childbearing age still aren’t getting enough folic acid
To head off a risk of neural tube defects, a class of potentially devastating birth defects, women of childbearing age are supposed to get at least 400 micrograms of folic acid daily. A government study now finds that the vast majority of these women fall short. It finds that the national average for women in this age group is some 40 percent below the recommended minimum.
