Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Indian men are prone to insulin resistance

    Men from India are more likely than those in other large ethnic groups to have a condition that predisposes them to adult-onset diabetes.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Milk Therapy

    Breast milk has long been known to be the best food for babies, but compounds in breast milk promise to be a tonic for many adult ills as well.

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  3. Humans

    Letters from the December 9, 2006, issue of Science News

    War is not the answer “U.S. Population to surpass 300 million” (SN: 10/7/06, p. 238) concludes with the interesting fact that the only annual drop in U.S. population during the past century “occurred between July 1917 and July 1918, when the country was at war,” implying a military cause for the decline. Indeed, the honored […]

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  4. Humans

    From the November 28, 1936, issue

    The beauty of frost and the mathematics of cells.

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  5. Humans

    Artistic Artificial Life

    This Web-based project represents the work of three Calgary artists: Vera Gartley, Arlene Stamp, and Mary Shannon Will. These artists use computers and other technology to generate designs that simulate growth patterns found in nature, explore image and text relationships by engaging viewers in movement and drawing, and combine layers of color and pattern with […]

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  6. Anthropology

    Stone Age Role Revolution: Modern humans may have divided labor to conquer

    A new analysis of Stone Age sites indicates that a division of labor first emerged in modern-human groups living in the African tropics around 40,000 years ago, providing our ancestors with a social advantage over Neandertals.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    A Toast to Healthy Hearts: Wine compounds benefit blood vessels

    Researchers have identified a class of compounds in red wine that might be responsible for much of the beverage's cardiovascular benefit.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Cancer Link: Gene regulates progesterone effect on breast cells

    The BRCA1 protein regulates the effect of pro-growth progesterone, which could explain why having a mutated BRCA1 gene predisposes a woman to breast cancer.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Test identifies people at cardiac risk

    Measurement of an electrical abnormality in the heart aids doctors in determining who is most at risk for cardiac arrest.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Belated angioplasty saves no lives

    A common heart procedure called angioplasty doesn't save lives if it is performed more than a couple of days after a heart attack.

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  11. Humans

    Letters from the December 2, 2006, issue of Science News

    Concerns vented “Venting Concerns: Exploring and protecting deep-sea communities” (SN: 10/7/06, p. 232) barely scratches the surface of the problem. What is stopping someone from gene splicing the disease of choice onto heat-loving bacterium? Something that can live near the 600°F of melting lead will certainly survive the standard hospital-sterilization process. D.J. KavaBeaumont, Texas The […]

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  12. Humans

    From the November 21, 1936, issue

    Wild turkeys, a life-extending diet, and seeing through fog.

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