Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Federal R&D Budget: On Boosts and Earmarks
Some people have argued that science hasn’t fared well under George W. Bush. The President’s science advisor, John H. Marburger, III, begs to differ. Federal R&D spending is up big time.
- Humans
Scientific Interference: Complaints At EPA
Results from a survey of more than 1,500 EPA scientists suggest a systematic attack on scientific integrity within that agency.
- Humans
Slowpoke settlers
Evidence suggests New World settlers slowly moved down the Pacific Coast and inhabited southern Chile by 14,000 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Smart microbes
Bacteria are smarter than you might think. Single-celled microbes can learn to predict changes in their environments and prepare themselves.
- Health & Medicine
Perchlorate: A Saga Continues
Perchlorate is not yet a household word in many parts of the country. But it may becomes one if Sen. Barbara Boxer has her way. Perchlorate – an ingredient in solid rocket fuel, fireworks, flares and explosives – taints drinking-water supplies around the nation, not to mention plenty of foods. In animal tests, the pollutant […]
- Health & Medicine
Glucose galore
Pregnant women with elevated blood sugar are more likely to have oversized babies, posing a risk to mother and newborn.
- Health & Medicine
Leaving a mark
Child abuse may leave chemical marks on the brains of people who later kill themselves.
- Agriculture
Ethanol Fallout: Health Risks for Livestock
With Uncle Sam pushing the production of ethanol for fuel, U.S. farmers are planting more corn than at any time since World War II, and garnering premium prices for each harvested bushel. But many livestock operations are getting hit with a double whammy: higher feeds costs and corn-derived feed that’s carrying triple the normal load of fungal poisons.
- Health & Medicine
Stub it out
Quitting cigarettes shows health benefits even decades after the last puff.
- Earth
Babbitt to Southern Louisiana: Look into Gondolas
“New Orleans, at the end of the century, will be an island” — literally, predicts Bruce Babbitt. Whether or not you believe his assessment, he makes a good case for considering the implications of climate change when planning federal projects.
- Humans
Teeth chronicle infant diet
Chemical analyses of teeth, including fossilized ones, may provide clues that tell anthropologists the age at which a child was weaned.
- Climate
Air Pollution Can Be So Cool — ing
Fossil-fuel pollution has been offsetting global warming to the tune of about 30 percent per year. Cleaning up that pollution, a must, threatens to accelerate warming unless humanity changes its fuel-use strategy.
