Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
U.S. radiation dose has doubled
New analysis finds radiation-based medical procedures have skyrocketed.
- Health & Medicine
Keeping artery plaques under control
Toning down a gene called CHOP may offer a way to reduce the risk of arterial plaque ruptures, which can cause heart attacks and strokes, a study in mice shows.
- Earth
Report of earlier, longer puberty in girls
A Danish study finds young girls are entering puberty notably earlier than 15 years ago — for reasons that remain unknown.
- Health & Medicine
Narcolepsy linked to immune system
Genome association study finds a second connection between the sleep disorder and the body's disease-fighting apparatus
- Health & Medicine
Swine flu genetics suggest a vaccine is possible
So far, strain's contagion appears on par with that of a seasonal flu outbreak. Vaccine would be at least months away.
- Health & Medicine
Science budgets look rosy, AAAS finds
The president and Congress have collaborated in targeting substantial increases for federal investments in R&D this year.
- Humans
The boffo science budget won’t last
Enjoy the largesse that Uncle Sam is doling out for research, a budget analyst warns, because it may disappear very soon.
- Climate
On federal science — and science spending
Things you might have gleaned at the AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy.
- Astronomy
They’re calling Obama the ‘science guy’
Speakers at a science forum offered support for the thesis that researchers have found a big ally in the new president.
- Life
Expansive genetic diversity in Africa revealed
Largest genetic study of African populations yields clues about the origin of modern humans and the ancestry of African-Americans
- Health & Medicine
World Health Organization raises swine flu alert level
The World Health Organization announced April 29 that is has raised the alert level for swine flu from Phase 4 to Phase 5, which suggests that a pandemic is imminent.
- Health & Medicine
Brain reads word-by-word
The brain reads words as whole units and processes the information quickly, two studies suggest.
