Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Anthropology
Partial skeletons may represent new hominid
Partial skeletons may represent a new hominid species with implications for Homo origins, one researcher claims. But many of his peers disagree.
- Humans
D.C. as science mecca
Not only is the D.C. area a center of research policy, but many scientific societies also call this place home. Still, I was a bit surprised to find out that fully one in 10 of our area residents work in research-related fields. That’s 50 percent more than in the next biggest hive of research: the New York City metro area.
- Health & Medicine
Lung function still impaired by dust from World Trade Center
Firefighters and emergency medical teams continue to have breathing problems years after the 2001 terrorist attack.
- Humans
Water, water everywhere
Sid Perkins uncovers the amazing amount of “hidden water” in many consumer products.
- Life
Eating seaweed may have conferred special digestive powers
Gut microbes in Japanese people may have borrowed genes for breaking down nori from marine bacteria.
- Health & Medicine
U.S. health system not adequately prepared for the aging sick
Is the U.S. healthcare system prepared to deal with aging patients who have at least two chronic medical conditions — ones that will each require at least a year of ongoing treatment? “Current indications suggest that it is not,” two physicians at the Department of Health and Human Services conclude.
- Life
Gene variants linked to Crohn disease have little effect, study finds
A genetic variant linked to Crohn disease does not raise the average person’s risk of developing the condition, a new study finds.
- Chemistry
Study reports hints of phthalate threat to boys’ IQs
You may have a hard time spelling phthalates, but there’s no avoiding them. They’re in the air you breathe, water you drink and foods you eat. And this ubiquity may carry a price, particularly for young boys, emerging data suggest. Including a drop in their IQ.
- Health & Medicine
Languages use different parts of brain
Different areas are active depending how the grammar of a sentence conveys meaning.
- Life
Insulin-producing cells can regenerate in diabetic mice
Animal study finds that the pancreas can spontaneously regenerate beta cells.
- Chemistry
Skin as a source of drug pollution
Traces of over-the-counter and prescription meds taint the environment. The presumption Ì and it's a good one Ì has been that most of these residues come from the urine and solid wastes excreted by treated patients. But in some instances, a leading source of a drug may be skin Ì either because the medicine was applied there or because people sweat it out.
- Anthropology
Inca cemetery holds brutal glimpses of Spanish violence
Bones from a 500-year-old cemetery have yielded the first direct evidence of Inca death at Spaniards’ hands.
