Health & Medicine
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Health & MedicineGiant rats detect tuberculosis
Animals can be trained to sniff out TB in sputum samples, adding to accuracy of microscope test, a study from Tanzania shows.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineChildhood epilepsy that lasts into adulthood triples mortality
The added risk occurs in patients whose seizures persist, a 40-year study in Finland shows.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineNo fear
A woman who lacks a basic brain structure, the amygdala, couldn’t be frightened no matter how hard researchers tried. And they tried.
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Health & MedicineGene linked to some smokers’ lung cancer
FGFR1 is amped up in a subset of cancers; inhibiting its proteins can shrink tumors in mice.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineSalvia says high
Laboratory researchers show that the psychoactive substance in a popular, largely legal recreational drug causes a short but intense period of hallucination.
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HumansApartments share tobacco smoke
Children in nonsmoking families have higher levels of secondhand exposure if they live in multifamily dwellings.
By Janet Raloff -
LifeCells reprogrammed to treat diabetes
The testes may be an alternate source of insulin production.
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LifeRooting for swarm intelligence in plants
Researchers argue for a type of vegetative group decision making usually associated with humans and social animals, and go out on a limb by also proposing that information may be transmitted electrically.
By Susan Milius -
Health & MedicineA protein’s ebb and flow
Buildup in the brain of a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease may be due to reduced clearance rather than overproduction of the protein.
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LifeJigsaw genetics
Fragments of a fetus's genome can be pieced together from the mother's blood to allow prenatal diagnosis of genetic diseases.
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Health & MedicineNew blood test may predict some heart risk
People carrying high levels of a protein called cardiac troponin T are more likely to have heart failure or die from cardiovascular problems, two studies show.
By Nathan Seppa -
TechTerrorist-resistant ‘source’ of moly-99 hits the U.S.
Molybdenum-99 is the radioactive feedstock for the most widely used diagnostic nuclear-medicine isotope. On December 6, the first commercial batch of moly-99 that had been produced using a terrorist-resistant process arrived in the United States from a reactor in South Africa.
By Janet Raloff