Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Statin reduces dementia risk
A popular anticholesterol drug reduces older adults' chances of developing dementia.
- Anthropology
Red-Ape Stroll
Wild orangutans regularly walk upright through the trees, raising the controversial possibility that the two-legged stance is not unique to hominids.
- Humans
Letters from the August 4, 2007, issue of Science News
Here comes the sun When “Reaching for Rays: Scientists work toward a solar-based energy system” (SN: 5/26/07, p. 328) says that “scientists don’t expect traditional silicon-based solar cells to become competitive with fossil fuels,” one has to ask, “Ever?” Can anyone accurately predict the future price of polysilicon or of fossil fuels? Peter A. KaczowkaLenox, […]
- Health & Medicine
A Gut Feeling about Coffee
People's gut microbes digest fiber from coffee in a fermentation process, making beneficial compounds.
- Humans
From the July 24, 1937, issue
Records of floods are written in mud, predictions that locusts will invade areas once thought safe, and the Eiffel Tower hosts the world's most powerful television transmitter.
- Health & Medicine
Grim Reap Purr: Nursing home feline senses the end
A nursing home cat in Rhode Island knows when the end is nigh, predicting with uncanny accuracy when residents will die.
- Health & Medicine
Good Light: Sun early in life could protect against MS
Childhood exposure to direct sunshine may protect people against developing multiple sclerosis later.
- Humans
Universities seek armchair astronomers
Scientists are recruiting online help from the public to classify the shapes of 1 million galaxies in never-before-viewed photographs.
- Humans
Letters from the July 28, 2007, issue of Science News
Gyro Q & A Doesn’t “Spinning into Control” (SN: 05/19/07, p. 312) on flywheels leave out a significant aspect: the gyroscope effects of a rotating large mass? Wouldn’t it be a benefit for moving installations (stabilization) and a problem for immobile installations? Lee HukillPalo Alto, Calif. In the article, the flywheels depicted appear to have […]
- Health & Medicine
Perception is longevity
Mice lived longer when they were fooled into sensing lower insulin levels than they actually had.
- Humans
From the July 17, 1937, issue
Tung trees from China make their mark in the southeastern United States, early concerns about oil shortages, and a suggestion that telescopes might already be seeing almost to the edge of the universe.
- Health & Medicine
Phytochemical Beauty
Our Food For Thought column recently published two offerings on health-related findings about genistein, a soybean constituent. Ever wonder what that chemical looks like? Or how about capsaicin—the spicy agent in hot chilies being explored as a painkiller, lycopene—the red pigment in watermelons that may protect our skin against harmful ultraviolet rays, or sulforaphane—a trace […]
