Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Letters from the April 1, 2006, issue of Science News
The prion game I must quibble about the headline of the piece about chronic wasting disease in deer (“Hunter Beware: Infectious proteins found in deer muscle,” SN: 1/28/06, p. 52). “Hunter Beware” sounds ominous, but in order to get the mice to exhibit symptoms after getting muscle tissue from infected deer, it was necessary to […]
- Health & Medicine
On a dare, teen advances medical science
A 16-year-old daredevil inadvertently demonstrated the incubation period of a common roundworm after she swallowed an earthworm that harbored larvae of the parasite.
- Health & Medicine
Meat Poses Exaggerated Cancer Risk for Some People
Animal research probes why a genetic vulnerability renders some individuals especially susceptible to the colon carcinogens that can form in cooked meats.
- Humans
From the March 21, 1936, issue
An arctic myth debunked, a treatment for high blood pressure, and a radio tube with no filament.
- Health & Medicine
Defect Detector: Plugging holes in a breast cancer–gene screen
A genetic test not available in the United States catches many potentially cancer-causing BRCA-gene mutations not detected by the sole U.S. test.
- Humans
Letters from the March 25, 2006, issue of Science News
Bee movie? In the article about using harmonic reflected signals to track bees (“The Trouble with Chasing a Bee,” SN: 1/14/06, p. 23), I thought it was interesting to note that the original technology was created by the Russians as a spy device. The technology is still being used for a form of spying. Dwight […]
- Health & Medicine
Moldy whiff kills brain cells
A common black mold that blooms on moist cellulose-based materials produces a toxin that can kill certain brain cells.
- Anthropology
Capuchins resist inbreeding chances
Wild capuchin monkeys manage to avoid inbreeding, despite rampant opportunities for high-status fathers to mate with their grown daughters.
- Health & Medicine
Protozoa Aid Food-Poisoning Germs
Ubiquitous waterborne protozoa appear capable of aiding the survival of several types of bacteria responsible for gut-wrenching food poisoning.
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- Humans
Explore Your Knowledge
Test your math and science knowledge at the National Center for Education Statistics Web site. Select a test topic and grade level (4th or 8th grade), then see how you do on a set of multiple-choice questions. The questions are from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Go to: http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/eyk/
- 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.
