Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Junk food junkies, round two
Laura Sanders follows up on a story first reported from the Society for Neuroscience’s 2009 meeting.
- Health & Medicine
Identical twins may not be so identical when it comes to gut bacteria
A new study suggests that intestinal microbe populations vary widely from one person to another.
- Chemistry
Mothballs deserve respect
I don’t use mothballs — except sometimes to sprinkle down the burrows of animals excavating tunnels beneath the deck floor of my pergola. It’s the most effective stop-work order for wildlife that I’ve found. But I won’t use these stinky crystals inside my home because they scare me. And those fears appear justified, according to Linda Hall of the California Environmental Protection Agency.
- Health & Medicine
Cap or cork, it’s the wine that matters most
Comparative study finds that screw tops can perform just as well in regulating the aging process.
- Health & Medicine
Walnuts slow prostate cancer growth
A new study suggests that mice with prostate tumors should say “nuts to cancer.” Paul Davis of the University of California, Davis, hopes follow-up data by his team and others will one day justify men saying the same.
- Tech
Smokin’ entrees: Charcoal grilling tops the list
At the American Chemical Society meeting, earlier this week, I stayed at a hotel that fronted onto the kitchen door of a Burger King. This explained the source of the beefy scent that perfumed the air from mid-morning on – the restaurant’s exhaust of smoke and meat-derived aerosols. A study presented at the meeting confirmed what my nose observed: that commercial grilling can release relatively huge amounts of pollutants.
- Humans
Wildlife trade meeting disappoints marine scientists
The 15th meeting of signatories to the CITES treaty ended on March 25 without passing several proposals to protect high-profile fish species.
- Earth
Alternative flame retardants leach into the environment
Supposedly safer chemicals are spotted in peregrine falcon eggs in California.
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- Health & Medicine
One of H1N1’s mysteries explained
The current H1N1 influenza shares many similarities with the 1918 pandemic influenza.
- Health & Medicine
Existing antibiotic might help keep wraps on AIDS virus
The acne drug minocycline inhibits HIV activation in infected immune cells, lab tests show.
- Chemistry
The skinny on indoor ozone
Indoor concentrations of ozone tend to be far lower than those outside, largely because much gets destroyed as molecules of the respiratory irritant collide with surfaces and undergo transformative chemical reactions. New research identifies a hitherto ignored surface that apparently plays a major role in quashing indoor ozone: It’s human skin. And while removing ozone from indoor air should be good, what takes its place may not be, data indicate.
