Humans
Sign up for our newsletter
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Joint Effort: Bacteria in yogurt combat arthritis in rats
Yogurt containing certain types of live bacteria may help prevent or treat arthritis.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Curbing Allergy to Insect Venom: Therapy stops reactions to stings years later
Some children don't outgrow an allergy to insect stings, but immunizations against such allergies can protect them into adulthood.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Cancer cells on the move
A new study suggests how a gene recently linked to liver, skin, and pancreatic cancer also causes an often-deadly form of breast cancer.
- Health & Medicine
Boldly into the breech controversy
Addressing a long-simmering controversy, a large new study has shown that in pregnancies where the baby has positioned itself to emerge feet or buttocks first, the delivery safest for the mother and child is a planned cesarean section rather than a vaginal birth.
- Health & Medicine
A vaccine to help ex-smokers
By generating antibodies that neutralize nicotine, a vaccine could keep ex-smokers from getting the nicotine high that drives many of them back to their bad habit.
By John Travis - Health & Medicine
Caffeine may ward off Parkinson’s
Scientists may have found an explanation for why coffee drinking prevents Parkinson's disease.
By John Travis - Health & Medicine
Sputum Test May Predict Lung Cancer
By zeroing in on aberrations in two cancer-fighting genes, researchers have found a marker for cancer risk that could help doctors screen people for signs of lung cancer early enough for treatment to be effective.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Old-fashioned circumcision can spread herpes
Boys whose ritual circumcisions involve an ancient, and now rare, practice may acquire herpes during the operation.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Severe sweating treated with Botox
A new treatment has been approved for excessive sweating, or hyperhidrosis, which is surprisingly common.
By Ben Harder - Humans
Letters from the August 14, 2004, issue of Science News
It’s a groove thing I don’t want to downplay genuine discovery, but your story about optically reading old records left me a little underwhelmed (“Groovy Pictures: Extracting sound from images of old audio recordings,” SN: 5/29/04, p. 339: Groovy Pictures: Extracting sound from images of old audio recordings). The optical playing of records has been […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
What’s the Beef?
Beef certified as Angus may not always be as tender as consumers expect.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
HIV drugs may stop cervical disease
A drug combination given to people with HIV, the AIDS virus, helps knock out precancerous cervical lesions in some women.
By Nathan Seppa