Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Vitamin D may be heart protective

    Vitamin D limits arterial plaque buildup in people with diabetes, early tests suggest.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Herbal supplementation can be an empty gesture

    Chemical analyses show some botanical extracts contain little of the plant material they were supposed to possess.

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  3. Life

    Excess folic acid sits idle

    Humans metabolize folic acid at a slow rate, suggesting that additional folic acid may yield no more benefits than recommended doses do, researchers report.

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  4. Archaeology

    Exhuming a violent event

    Four graves containing 13 skeletons have given scientists a glimpse of a lethal raid that occurred in central Europe 4,600 years ago.

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  5. Chemistry

    Styrofoam degrades in seawater

    Study suggests besides the visible plastic, smaller bits are fouling the waters

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  6. Psychology

    How to walk in circles without really trying

    People walk in circles when landmarks and other directional cues are not available.

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  7. Humans

    Nostril rivalry

    Like the eyes and ears, each nostril vies for the brain’s attention, a new study suggests.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Docs writing fewer scripts

    The number of antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory infections has declined since the mid-1990s, a new study shows.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Better BBQ through chemistry

    Food chemists reveal their secrets to juicier, tastier barbecue.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Using estrogen to combat persistent breast cancer

    Estrogen therapy stymies breast cancer in some patients who have exhausted their other options, a new study finds.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Worm-inspired superglue

    Researchers create a material that may one day be used to paste together bones in the body.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Feds won’t cover PET scans during isotope crisis

    One alternative procedure for scouting bone cancers is theoretically available, but currently may be an option only for people with deep pockets.

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