Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Tea Yields Prostate Benefits
Tea drinking appears to seed the body with compounds that retard the growth of prostate cancer.
- Archaeology
Stone Age Combustion: Fire use proposed at ancient Israeli site
A Stone Age site in Israel contains the oldest evidence of controlled fire use in Asia or Europe, from around 750,000 years ago, a research team reports.
- Health & Medicine
Exercise boosts sugar’s taste
Studies in runners and in animals indicate that exercise increases an individual's sensitivity to sweetness.
- Health & Medicine
Proteins mark ALS
Scientists reported finding what appears to be the first diagnostic test for Lou Gehrig's disease, potentially shaving a year off of when targeted treatment for the disease can begin.
- Humans
From the April 28, 1934, issue
An ancient crocodile, how loudness affects pitch, and observing the sun's corona.
- Humans
Messing Around with Music
San Francisco’s Exploratorium offers an entertaining, multimedia excursion into the science of music. Visit a virtual kitchen to sample some appliance sounds. Use video of a step dancer to compose music. Discover how various cultures around the world create musical instruments out of everyday objects. Try out a sound mixer and much more. Go to: […]
- Health & Medicine
Experimental drug boosts HDL counts
An experimental drug can dramatically increase blood concentrations of high-density lipoprotein, the beneficial cholesterol.
- Health & Medicine
CT scan no match for colonoscopy
Colonoscopy is better at detecting potentially dangerous colon polyps than computed tomography scanning is.
- Health & Medicine
Coffee, Spices, Wine
Several dietary agents, including coffee, wine, and cinnamon, appear to restore some of the body's responsiveness to insulin, potentially slowing diabetes' onset or ravages.
- Humans
Letters from the May 1, 2004, issue of Science News
Skins game I know some people who carefully shield their bodies from the sun with sunscreen and clothing, and their skin is extremely pale. But if tanning acts as a protector (“Sunny Solution: Lotion speeds DNA repair, protects mice from skin cancer,” SN: 3/6/04, p. 147: Sunny Solution: Lotion speeds DNA repair, protects mice from […]
- Health & Medicine
Firms vie to treat genetic disease
Successful treatment of Fabry's disease—a rare, fatal genetic condition—prompts a law suit.
- Anthropology
‘Y guy’ steps into human-evolution debate
The common ancestor of today's males lived in Africa between 35,000 and 89,000 years ago, according to a contested DNA analysis.
