Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists offer compelling images of Gulf War illness
BLOG: Researchers have just rolled out a host of brain images — various types of magnetic resonance scans and brain-wave measurements — that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome.
- Health & Medicine
Cocktails ward off the bulge
A large study has found that middle-aged women who drink moderately gain less weight over the years compared to their teetotaling peers.
- Climate
Ancient Norse colonies hit bad climate times
Temperatures in Iceland plummeted soon after settlers arrived, a new chemical analysis suggests.
- Life
Boys and girls differ in genetic response to what mom eats
Expectant mothers’ diets may influence gene activity differently in the placentas that feed sons and daughters, a new mouse study reveals.
- Health & Medicine
Gene linked to pain perception
A common genetic variant that appears to increase sensitivity could lead to the development of better medications.
- Earth
Green-ish pesticides bee-devil honey makers
Pesticides are agents designed to rid targeted portions of the human environment of undesirable critters – such as boll weevils, roaches or carpenter ants. They’re not supposed to harm beneficials. Like bees. Yet a new study from China finds that two widely used pyrethroid pesticides – chemicals that are rather “green” as bug killers go – can significantly impair the pollinators’ reproduction.
- Life
Mature females key to beluga sturgeon survival
Hatchery fish are unlikely to restore caviar-producing fish populations, a new assessment finds.
- Earth
Fowl surprise! Methylmercury improves hatching rate
A pinch of methylmercury is just ducky for mallard reproduction, according to a new federal study. The findings are counterintuitive, since methylmercury is ordinarily a potent neurotoxic pollutant.
- Psychology
Alcohol distills aggression in large men
A new study suggests that the ‘big, mean drunk guy’ stereotype contains some truth.
- Life
Researchers distinguish two different types of blood stem cells
Working in mice, scientists find that red and white blood cells arise from different progenitors.
- Health & Medicine
Old drug may be first choice for childhood petit mal epilepsy
Three-way trial shows ethosuximide edging out two newer choices.
- Chemistry
Plasticizers kept from leaching out
‘Chemicals of concern’ may be made safer in new materials.
