Humans

Sign up for our newsletter

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Earth

    Severe heat and cold top list of deadly natural hazards

    Data compilation by region, type of hazards shows deaths from more frequent events accumulate into significant numbers. Lightning strikes also high on the list.

    By
  2. Earth

    Improved Cars: Chu on It

    Hey Detroit: Lighten up, the incoming Energy Secretary recommends.

    By
  3. Health & Medicine

    Dual therapy best for nasty prostate cancer

    Dual therapy that adds radiation to medication for aggressive prostate cancer yields better survival and fewer signs of relapse than drugs alone, a large Scandinavian clinical trial finds.

    By
  4. Tech

    Holiday Gifts: Blog Sites

    Sample other blogs and let us know of notables that we missed that are also worth sharing.

    By
  5. Health & Medicine

    Potentially potent chemo target in sight

    A fruit fly protein that helps control cell differentiation may be a powerful target for stopping human cancers.

    By
  6. Health & Medicine

    Breast cancer costs poor people more

    Out-of-pocket costs of breast cancer hit poor individuals the hardest.

    By
  7. Health & Medicine

    Soy compound revs up cancer fighter in healthy tissue

    A lab study of healthy breast tissue cells shows increases in the tumor suppressor protein PTEN in the presence of soy isoflavone genistein, a compound believed to fight breast cancer.

    By
  8. Health & Medicine

    Breast density signals tamoxifen’s effectiveness

    Decreasing breast density signals the drug tamoxifen is working in women at risk of developing breast cancer.

    By
  9. Archaeology

    Tools with handles even more ancient

    An analysis of stone tools excavated at a Syrian site indicates that, around 70,000 years ago, Neandertals used a tarlike adhesive to affix sharpened items to handles.

    By
  10. Chemistry

    Of Presidents and Nobels

    It appears Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will soon have produced two Nobel laureates to offer White House counsel and directives on science policy.

    By
  11. Health & Medicine

    Stronger role for a breast cancer drug

    Going beyond its original role as an add-on for chemotherapy, the breast cancer drug lapatinib, when taken with another kind of frontline drug, may find use for patients with the HER2-positive form of the cancer.

    By
  12. Health & Medicine

    Gene could drive species separation

    Newly identified fruit fly gene provides evidence for “cheating genes” that may cause species schisms

    By