Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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- Life
1000 Genomes pilot a hit with geneticists
The first stage of a project to probe human genetic diversity has found millions of new variations.
- Health & Medicine
Pancreatic cancer years in the making
A decade elapses from the first cancer-related mutation to tumor formation, and several more years pass until the disease spreads to other organs, a new study finds. The work raises the possibility that a usually deadly malignancy can be treated before it’s too late.
- Humans
Weighing risks, convicts display blind spots
Prisoners often don’t appreciate likely gains or losses in making decisions, a finding with possible policy implications.
- Humans
When to welcome ‘invading’ species
As climate changes, some environments are becoming hostile to the flora and fauna that long nurtured them. Species that can migrate have begun to move into regions where temperatures and humidity are more hospitable. And that can prove a conundrum for officials charged with halting the invasion of non-native species, notes Jon Jarvis, a biologist who for the past year has headed the National Park Service.
- Humans
Should health care workers be required to get flu vaccinations?
Mandatory policies increase participation at some hospitals, but are still disputed by unions and some staffers.
- Humans
GNP’s glaciers: Going, going . . .
Climate warming will eliminate them within a generation, data indicate.
- Chemistry
Breathe better with bitter
Taste receptors in the lungs open airways in response to acrid gases.
- Health & Medicine
Pet frogs can transmit salmonella
A CDC investigation adds a common aquarium species to the list of amphibians that can carry and spread bacteria.
- Psychology
Lies, damned lies and psychology experiments
Researchers may deceive themselves when they mislead study participants.
- Health & Medicine
Anticancer protein might combat HIV
The tumor suppressor p21 shows up in abundance in some people who are impervious to developing AIDS despite being infected, a study shows.
- Math
Marathoning made easy
Or at least endurable, by calculating and then keeping to a physiologically sustainable pace.
