Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Letters from the January 20, 2007, issue of Science News
Sea tales In “Dashing Rogues” (SN: 11/18/06, p. 328) on rogue waves, you make no mention of the use of satellite data, which is ideal for this sort of study. Two projects, in particular, are of great relevance: the European Union’s MaxWave study and the subsequent WaveAtlas project. The former, with just 3 weeks’ data, […]
- Humans
From the January 9, 1937, issue
A new AAAS president, preventing blood clots, and new elements in the sun.
- Health & Medicine
No Fluke: New weapon against tropical parasite
An experimental drug shows potential against schistosomiasis.
- Health & Medicine
Folic Acid Dilemma: One vitamin may impair cognition if another is lacking
The nutrient folic acid is generally good for brain health, but research now suggests that too much of it might harm people who get too little vitamin B12.
- Humans
Congress upgrades fisheries protection
Congress has reauthorized and strengthened a 30-year-old federal law governing fishing and ocean management.
- Health & Medicine
Putting the kibosh on black cohosh
The herbal supplement black cohosh is no more effective than a placebo in reducing the number of daily hot flashes in menopausal women.
- Health & Medicine
Good news for people with clotting disorder
Several experimental drugs show promise against the bleeding disorder known as immune thrombocytopenic purpura.
- Humans
Letters from the January 13, 2007, issue of Science News
Sunny exposition “The Antibiotic Vitamin” (SN: 11/11/06, p. 312) reminds me that in preantibiotic days, tuberculosis patients were put on a fresh-air-and-sunshine regimen. Could the vitamin D so acquired account for the cures this system sometimes produced? Nancy AxfordSacramento, Calif. Researcher John J. Cannell points to TB sanitariums as anecdotal evidence that sunlight fights infections.—J. […]
- Health & Medicine
Better Blood: New tool removes agent of brain disease
Scientists have developed a device that filters from blood the mutant proteins that cause the human form of mad cow disease, an advance that may hold promise for increasing the safety of donated blood.
- Health & Medicine
Bad to the Bone: Acid stoppers appear to have a downside
Popular acid-reducing drugs called proton-pump inhibitors may increase the risk of hip fractures in people over 50.
- Health & Medicine
Drinking During Pregnancy Emerges As a Possible Male-Infertility Factor
Alcohol consumption during pregnancy increases the risk of undescended testicles in boy babies, and it may contribute to later fertility problems even in boys born without the defect.
- Humans
Letters from the January 6, 2007, issue of Science News
Gone with the heat? “Feeling the heat of an extrasolar planet” (SN: 10/28/06, p. 285) made me wonder how long a gas planet is expected to survive when one of its faces is more than 1,000°C. The conventional model of our solar system assumes that gas planets can form and survive only in a cold […]
