Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Humans

    Science’s New Guard: Winners of annual competition get honors and hefty scholarships

    For her water-quality research project, an 18-year-old from Utah earned top honors among 40 competitors in the final phase of the annual Intel Science Talent Search.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Stent Repair: Coated replacements better than radiation

    To clear clogged stents, the small mesh cylinders that doctors implant to prop open blood vessels, inserting a second, specially-coated stent works better than treatment with radiation.

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  3. Anthropology

    Evolution persisted in agricultural era

    Natural selection has continued to propagate survival-enhancing gene variants in human populations over the past 10,000 years, according to a new genetic analysis.

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  4. Humans

    Letters from the March 18, 2006, issue of Science News

    Comfort zones Just because living organisms were found in extreme conditions does not necessarily mean they were created in these localities (“Is Anybody out There?” SN: 1/21/06, p. 42). Another possibility is that the creation of life took place under more amenable conditions and that these organisms, through evolution, gradually adapted as the conditions changed. […]

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  5. Health & Medicine

    May I Propose a High-Fiber Toast?

    Scientists have genetically modified wheat to boost a type of dietary fiber linked to numerous health benefits.

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  6. Humans

    From the March 7, 1936, issue

    Canadian caves, television field tests, and violin makers' secrets.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Ear Protection: Combo vaccine prevents some infections

    A vaccine that triggers immunity against two common bacteria can prevent many ear infections in babies.

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  8. Anthropology

    Polynesian Latecomers: Easter Islanders took fast track to culture

    New radiocarbon dates from Easter Island indicate that the isolated Polynesian island was first colonized around A.D. 1200, up to 800 years later than had previously been thought.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Got Data? Consuming calcium, dairy doesn’t keep off weight

    Dairy products and other calcium-containing foods don't prevent weight gain, according to a 12-year study of middle-aged men.

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  10. Humans

    Letters from the March 11, 2006, issue of Science News

    Seasonal effect? Might your article, “Bright Lights, Big Cancer” (SN: 1/7/06, p. 8), on breast cancer have missed something? If the daily light-dark cycle affects melatonin, is there a seasonal change in cancer rates in the Northern (and Southern) Hemispheres? If so or not, that might give a clue to any latency period. Alan MacGregorSalmon […]

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Genes for macular degeneration

    Variations in two genes could account for three-quarters of all cases of age-related macular degeneration.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Low-protein diet boosts treatment

    A diet low in protein can improve the effectiveness of drug therapy and reduce the periods of the most debilitating symptoms suffered by Parkinson's disease patients.

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