Humans
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Let’s Get Physical
The feds articulate how much exercise we should consider as healthy.
By Janet Raloff - Humans
Arctic warming chills interest in fishing
Featured blog: An October 7 accord could put U.S. Arctic waters off-limits to fishing.
By Janet Raloff - Humans
Origins of Maya pottery material remain mysterious
Scientists haven’t yet identified the source of volcanic ash used in Maya pottery, but they now have geochemical clues about the ash’s composition.
By Sid Perkins - Humans
The long, wild ride of bipolar disorder
The first long-term study of its kind finds that bipolar disorder identified in children often persists into young adulthood and involves frequent, intense swings between manic euphoria and depression.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Nobel Prize in medicine given for HIV, HPV discoveries
Three Europeans recognized for linking viruses to AIDS, cervical cancer.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
Genetic link to dyslexia
Scientists studying a large group of British children find a link between a DNA sequence that contains a gene involved in brain development and a range of reading problems, including dyslexia.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Smokers May Benefit from Red Wine
Smokers: Red wine may be the prescription for you.
By Janet Raloff - Chemistry
Trapping Compact Fluorescents’ Toxic Gas
New nanomaterials may offer a solution to mopping up a toxic pollutant associated with fluorescent lighting.
By Janet Raloff - Chemistry
Oops! A Fluorescent Light Breaks
Toxic mercury will be released whenever a fluorescent lamp breaks.
By Janet Raloff - Chemistry
Fluorescent bulbs offer mercury advantage
Featured blog: Switching to light bulbs that contain mercury might, surprisingly, reduce overall mercury releases to the environment. Plus, what to do when you break your fluorescent bulb.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Don’t forget diet composition
Caloric restriction, an antiaging technique, fails to lower levels of IGF-1, a growth factor that, in high amounts, is linked to cancer in humans. But cutting protein along with calories does decrease IGF-1.
- Health & Medicine
On Following the Money
Judge medical writers on issues that matter most in a given story, not just on what's easiest to quantify.
By Janet Raloff