Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
Regulating Muscle Decline: Small molecules linked to degenerative diseases
Snippets of RNA that regulate gene activity play a role in muscle-wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy.
- Anthropology
Going Coastal: Sea cave yields ancient signs of modern behavior
A South African cave yields evidence of complex, symbolic behavior among ancient people about 164,000 years ago, the oldest such indications yet.
- Health & Medicine
Better Than Pap: Virus test detects cervical cancer
A new test for human papillomavirus (HPV) detects cervical cancer more reliably than traditional Pap smears.
- Humans
The Ignobility of Wrinkles
A theoretical study of the way skin, apple peel, and bedsheets wrinkle has won this year's Ig Nobel Prize in Physics.
- Health & Medicine
Troubling Meaty ‘Estrogen’
High temperature cooking can imbue meats with a chemical that acts like a hormone.
