Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Hepatitis B link to cancer is clarified
A kind of hepatitis B called genotype C is more likely to lead to liver cancer than are other genotypes of the hepatitis virus.
- Health & Medicine
Tungsten-alloy shrapnel might cause cancer
Wounds caused by shrapnel comprising tungsten alloyed with nickel and cobalt cause cancer in rats, raising questions about the wisdom of using tungsten in munitions.
- Humans
From the March 9, 1935, issue
How early fish learned to swim, a long-distance record for short radio waves, and tidal effects inside Earth.
- Health & Medicine
Anoint Them with Oil: Cheap-and-easy treatment cuts infection rates in premature infants
Massaging premature babies with sunflower-seed oil can cut bloodborne infection rates.
- Health & Medicine
Blindness Hazard: Gene variant tied to macular degeneration
People who make a particular form of an immune system protein have a heightened risk of developing old-age blindness.
- Health & Medicine
Injections cut need for HIV drugs
An experimental vaccine, when given to people infected with HIV, appears to reduce their dependence on antiviral drugs.
- Humans
Death can outdo ABCs of prevention
Abstinence and monogamy may deserve little, if any, credit for the recent drop in the proportion of Ugandans who are infected with HIV.
- Health & Medicine
The Zero Gravity Diet
Living in space punishes the body as much as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, says a new study of astronaut health and nutrition.
- Humans
Letters from the March 12, 2005, issue of Science News
Cheaters like us? The model for the emergence of a population of “cheaters” out of a population of “cooperators” described in “When Laziness Pays: Math explains how cooperation and cheating evolve” (SN: 1/15/05, p. 35) gives a fresh viewpoint on existing ecosystems—and much more. Might the evolution of asymmetric modern sex from symmetric DNA exchange […]
- Health & Medicine
Inner-brain electrode may curb depression
Deep-brain electrical stimulation has shown promise in treating severe depression.
- Anthropology
Inside view of our wee, ancient cousins
A tiny, humanlike species that inhabited an Indonesian island more than 20,000 years ago possessed a brain that shared some organizational features with Homo erectus, a large-brained human ancestor that thought in complex ways.
- Health & Medicine
Measuring HIV’s Cost: Treatment adds years, but many still miss out
Medical care for people infected with HIV has already saved about 2 million years of life in the United States, but more than 200,000 HIV-infected Americans are not benefiting from drugs that could extend their lives.
