Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Anthropology
Ancient-ape remains discovered in Kenya
Newly unearthed fossils of a 9.8-million-year-old ape in eastern Africa come from a creature that may have evolved into a common ancestor of African apes and humans.
- Humans
Letters from the December 1, 2007, issue of Science News
Bed nets and insecticides Kenyan researchers report that insecticide-treated bed nets can reduce malaria-related deaths in children (“Keep Out: Treated mosquito nets limit child deaths,” SN: 9/29/07, p. 195). While these nets appear to provide preventive measures against malaria, my only concern is the toxicity of the insecticides. The World Health Organization lists two of […]
- Humans
From the November 20, 1937, issue
An American Nobel laureate in physics, the need for research in the chemistry of petroleum, and a new way to send photographs by telegraph.
- Health & Medicine
Biohazard: Smoking before or after pregnancy may harm daughters’ fertility
Smoking before pregnancy or during breastfeeding might impair the female offspring's fertility, a study in mice shows.
- Health & Medicine
Wrong Way: HIV vaccine hinders immunity in mice
An HIV vaccine hurts, not helps, the immune systems of mice, say scientists.
- Health & Medicine
9/11 reflux
Up to 20 percent of 9/11 workers in New York City experience symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, also called acid reflux.
- Humans
Letters from the November 24, 2007, issue of Science News
Blame where it’s due Although multinational agreements on global warming try to spread the burden among all nations, data from the MILAGRO project in Mexico City (“What Goes Up,” SN: 9/8/07, p. 152) suggest that the major responsibility for excess production of greenhouse gases and other pollutants lies with the megacities, which constitute a rather […]
- Humans
From the November 13, 1937, issue
Reconstructions of European dwellings from 2 and 4 millennia ago, an asteroid traveling at record-breaking speed, and a headlight that tilts as the car goes up or down a hill.
- Health & Medicine
Bone Builder: Drug may offer steroid users new protection against fractures
A bone-growth medication called teriparatide outperforms the standard bone-preserving drug alendronate in people with steroid-induced osteoporosis.
- Health & Medicine
Superbug: What makes one bacterium so deadly
A molecule that pierces immune cells gives some aggressive antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria their fearsome virulence.
- Health & Medicine
Canadians Advocate Boosting Vitamin D in Pregnancy
Higher vitamin D intake is recommended for pregnant women and nursing moms in Canada than for those in the United States.
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