Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
HIV variant might help vaccine search
Scientists have discovered an unusual HIV protein in a Kenyan woman that makes the virus vulnerable to antibodies.
- Health & Medicine
Sleep disruption and glucose processing
Shallow sleep can depress the body's ability to process glucose efficiently.
- Humans
Letters from the January 19, 2008, issue of Science News
Evening the score When Ai, mother of the chimp Amuyu, whose mental feats you reported in “Chimp Champ: Ape aces memory test, outscores people” (SN: 12/8/07, p. 355), appeared in a television documentary a few years ago, I reproduced for myself the number-sequence test she performed and found that, after practice, I could easily outperform […]
- Health & Medicine
Night lights may foster cancer
Regularly working through the night appears to come at a steep cost—a heightened risk of cancer.
- Humans
Transport emissions sizable, and rising
Almost one-sixth of the carbon dioxide produced by human activity since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution resulted from the transport of goods and people—an emissions fraction that's increasing by the year.
- Humans
Judging Science
Scientists and legal scholars argue that studies conducted with litigation in mind are not necessarily more biased than research done for other purposes.
- Health & Medicine
Blind Bet
Although the chances of success are far from certain, many desperate horse owners are gambling on stem cell therapy for their injured equine friends.
- Health & Medicine
The State of Our Nutrition
With the new year, people start thinking about dieting and developing better overall health habits. Want to know which regions of the nation started out the year as the most and least healthy—and by what measures? Turn to new maps prepared by the Agriculture Department and click on the state(s) of interest. Agency scientists have […]
- Humans
From the January 8, 1938, issue
Social scientist named AAAS president, rarest of the rare found high in the air, and an unusual joint for a skull.
- Health & Medicine
Risky DNA: Autism studies yield fresh genetic leads
Two new studies point to the diverse genetic roots of autism and related developmental disorders, while other evidence questions the claim that mercury-based childhood vaccines have contributed to rising autism rates.
- Humans
Letters from the January 12, 2008, issue of Science News
Shades of meaning In “Going Coastal: Sea cave yields ancient signs of modern behavior” (SN: 10/20/07, p. 243), researcher Curtis Marean refers to Stone Age people using a reddish pigment for “body coloring or other symbolic acts.” What reason is there for jumping to this conclusion? As with cave painting and figurines, there seems to […]
- Health & Medicine
Down syndrome’s anti-tumor effect
The chromosomal abnormality that causes Down syndrome might protect against some solid tumors.
