Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
From the April 11, 1936, issue
Spring flowers, alcohol's effect on the liver, and tapping into brain waves.
- Humans
Sculpting Life’s Machinery
Sculptor Julian Voss-Andreae creates novel artworks inspired by the three-dimensional structures of proteins. His latest work, “Unravelling Collagen,” goes on display next month in the City of South San Francisco’s Orange Memorial Sculpture Park. Now based in Portland, Ore., Voss-Andreae had started out as a quantum physicist. Go to: http://www.julianvossandreae.com/
- Health & Medicine
Estrogen Safety: Studies raise cancer, blood clot questions
Two studies provide conflicting findings on estrogen therapy's effect on breast cancer risk, while a third study suggests that the hormone contributes to blood clot formation.
- Health & Medicine
Microbe Hunt: Novel bacterium infects immune-deficient people
A newfound bacterium can cause illness in people who have a rare, inherited form of immune deficiency.
- Anthropology
Branchless Evolution: Fossils point to single hominid root
Fossils of a 4.1-million-year-old human ancestor in Ethiopia bolster the controversial idea that early members of our evolutionary family arose one species at a time rather than branching out into numerous species.
- Health & Medicine
Alcohol spurs cancer growth
Downing the human equivalent of two to four alcoholic drinks per day dramatically spurs the growth of cancers implanted in lab mice.
- Humans
Letters from the April 15, 2006, issue of Science News
Light shift Regarding “Blasts from the Past: Astronomers begin to go the distance with gamma-ray bursts” (SN: 2/11/06, p. 88), why is it that visible light is shifted to lower frequencies but gamma rays aren’t? Shouldn’t they have become X rays after all that distance? Stephen WoodOrlando, Fla. All wavelengths are redshifted. That means that […]
- Health & Medicine
Putting the Pressure on Poisons
Although rice can contain traces of a liver carcinogen, a new study finds that pressure-cooking reduces toxin quantities to safe levels.
- Health & Medicine
Breakfast trends
Although breakfasts tend to pack a lot of nutrition per typical calorie consumed, one in five U.S. residents skips this meal.
- Archaeology
Early farmers took time to tame wheat
Domesticated varieties of wheat emerged gradually in the prehistoric Near East over a roughly 3,000-year span.
- Humans
From the April 4, 1936, issue
Hidden blossoms of spring, postponing old age, and the future of atomic energy.
- Health & Medicine
Defusing the Dairy Dilemma
A new analysis finds that most people who suffer from lactose intolerance can still down dairy products in moderation.
