Feature Humans Science News of the Year 2006 Share this:EmailFacebookTwitterPinterestPocketRedditPrint By Science News December 20, 2006 at 9:59 am EYE ON SATURN. The Cassini spacecraft captured an image of the most powerful storm ever seen on Saturn . New evidence indicated that a shattered moon produced the planet’s main rings . With the sun poised behind Saturn, Cassini discovered two new rings and confirmed the presence of two ringlets . NASA, JPL, Space Science Institute PRESCRIBING DEBATE. Regulatory action and scientific clashes arose concerning the efficacy and safety of a popular class of antidepressant drugs, especially in depressed youth . iStockphoto CHLOROQUINE’S RETURN. An inexpensive drug that had lost much of its punch against malaria over the past 20 years showed signs of regaining its strength in the African nation of Malawi . E. Roell SOUND THERAPY. No longer limiting the use of sound waves to diagnostic medicine, researchers studied intense, focused ultrasound as a treatment for uterine fibroids, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and other cancers . THS International, Inc. NATURAL TEACHERS. Testing suggested that meerkats are true teachers when they ease their pups into the perils of handling live prey and that tiny British ants teach nest mates where to find food . A. Radford, S. Lanfear, Thornton, McAuliffe PRION PROLIFERATION. Researchers located infectious, misshapen proteins called prions in the muscles of deer and elk with an illness called chronic wasting disease, raising the possibility that eating the animal’s meat could make people sick . Another group of scientists discovered that healthy prion proteins serve an important function: maintaining the body’s cache of blood-producing stem cells . Photodisc CARBON GOES GLAM. Chemists fashioned tiny dots of carbon that glow in response to light . Y. Lin and Sun LONG HAUL. More than half the airborne dust that provides vital nutrients to the Amazonian rainforest comes from a small corner of the Sahara, researchers reported . NASA BAD BEAUTIES. Discarded aquarium fish appeared to be the source of an alien population of red lionfish that’s breeding in the Atlantic Ocean and could threaten economically important fish . D. Kesling/NOAA Undersea Res. Ctr. COFFEE CHASER. Cups of coffee may provide heavy drinkers with some protection against cirrhosis, a liver-scarring disease common in alcoholics . iStockphoto More Stories from Science News on Humans Anthropology Fossils of an extinct animal may have inspired this cave art drawing By Bruce Bower5 hours ago Health & Medicine Can taking ashwagandha supplements improve health? By Sean CummingsSeptember 13, 2024 Anthropology Ancient DNA unveils a previously unknown line of Neandertals By Bruce BowerSeptember 11, 2024 Health & Medicine California droughts may help valley fever spread By Erin Garcia de JesúsSeptember 11, 2024 Health & Medicine The first face transplant to include an eye shows no rejection a year later By Aimee CunninghamSeptember 9, 2024 Health & Medicine 50 years ago, some of plastic’s toxic hazards were exposed By Erin Garcia de JesúsSeptember 6, 2024 Health & Medicine A new drug shows promise for hot flashes due to menopause By Aimee CunninghamSeptember 5, 2024 Health & Medicine A next-gen pain drug shows promise, but chronic sufferers need more options By Cassandra WillyardSeptember 5, 2024