Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Dengue strikes United States

    Texas has been hit with the first-ever outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the continental United States.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Cola May Weaken Women’s Bones

    New research indicates that, in postmenopausal women, regular consumption of cola-flavored soft drinks may weaken bones.

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  3. Humans

    Letters from the October 28, 2006, issue of Science News

    Slow down a minute “Braking news: Disks slow down stars” (SN: 8/12/06, p. 109) says that a magnetic linkage between spinning stars and the charged particles in the dusty disks that surround them slowed the spin of the stars, but says nothing about its effect on the disk. The law of conservation of angular momentum […]

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  4. Health & Medicine

    A Salty Controversy over Sodium-and-Health Papers

    A public-interest group has raised a ruckus over salt-industry payments to the authors of a nutrition journal's package of articles on salt's influence on health.

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  5. Humans

    From the October 17, 1936, issue

    A million volts to fight cancer, relief from migraines, and differing sensitivity to sound.

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  6. Humans

    Insect Close-Ups

    Psychology professor David Yager of the University of Maryland has focused his research on the evolution of hearing. In the course of this work, he has produced extraordinary, close-up portraits of a variety of insects. His image of a Cuban cockroach recently won second place for photography in the National Science Foundation’s annual Science and […]

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Prep Work: Bird-flu vaccine might work better with primer

    Giving people a vaccine against an existing form of avian influenza might help them respond better when given a shot for a future strain of the virus during a pandemic.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Antiviral drug may limit herpes spread

    In people with genital herpes, the drug famciclovir sharply reduces virus shedding from the genitalia.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Do acid blockers let microbes reach the colon?

    Suppressing stomach acid while taking antibiotics may allow drug-resistant bacteria to colonize the intestines.

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  10. Humans

    Letters from the October 21, 2006, issue of Science News

    Fish story? To argue that the concentrations reported in “Macho Moms: Perchlorate pollutant masculinizes fish” (SN: 8/12/06, p. 99) are environmentally relevant is misleading. Those concentrations are usually in groundwater, not surface waters. I’ve been involved in the environmental field for almost 20 years and have yet to hear of any fish being caught in […]

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Olive Oil’s Newfound Benefits

    New studies find benefits in olive oil beyond their heart-friendly fats.

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  12. Humans

    From the October 10, 1936, issue

    The inner beauty of leaves, a better treatment for pneumonia, and alcohol fuel for cars.

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