Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Anthropology
Fossil Sparks
Two new fossil discoveries and an analysis of ancient teeth challenge traditional assumptions about ape and human evolution.
- Humans
Letters from the November 3, 2007, issue of Science News
Waste not, want not “Cellulose Dreams” (SN: 8/25/07, p. 120) ignored important research by David Tilman and Jason Hill of the University of Minnesota. They found that planting a crop of 18 different native prairie plants grown in highly degraded and infertile soil with little fertilizer or chemicals yielded substantially more bioenergy than a single […]
- Humans
From the October 23, 1937, issue
Soviet hydroelectricity powers electric farm equipment, breeding programs create rats with cancer resistance and rabbits with an extra rib, and artificial fertilization is made to work in fruit flies.
- Anthropology
Not So Clear-Cut: Soil erosion may not have led to Mayan downfall
Hand-planted maize, beans, and squash sustained the Mayans for millennia, until their culture collapsed about 1,100 years ago. Some researchers have suggested that the Mayans’ very success in turning forests into farmland led to soil erosion that made farming increasingly difficult and eventually caused their downfall. But a new study of ancient lake sediments has […]
- Health & Medicine
HIV-positive people getting heavier
With drug treatment, HIV-infected people no longer suffer from wasting but are about as overweight or obese as the U.S. population as a whole.
- Health & Medicine
‘Knuckle fever’ reaches Italy
A virus that causes debilitating fever and joint pain has spread from Africa to Italy, where it has caused at least 284 cases of illness.
- Health & Medicine
Twice bitten
Repeat episodes of Lyme disease are more likely caused by a second tick bite rather than by a return of the original illness.
- Health & Medicine
Ulcer bug may prevent asthma
Children whose stomachs carry the bacterium Helicobacter pylori are at lower risk for asthma than children who don't have the bug.
- Humans
Math clubs get national sponsor
A math group is offering all U.S. middle schools free materials to set up clubs aimed at making math fun.
- Humans
Letters from the October 27, 2007, issue of Science News
Heated dispute “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature” (SN: 8/25/07, p. 125) states that “an increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, not an increase in solar radiation” is responsible for current global warming. What is the scientific—not political—basis for that remark? Warren FinleyLaguna Beach, Calif. Increasing solar radiation doesn’t affect climate change? […]
- Health & Medicine
Looking for Biomarkers: Protein signature may warn of impending Alzheimer’s disease
Measuring the amounts of certain proteins in the blood might provide early warning of Alzheimer's disease.
- Health & Medicine
Beware the Starlings: Common birds can carry avian influenza
Common songbirds such as starlings may be able to carry and spread avian influenza.
