Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Rare but Fatal Outcome: Four deaths may trace to abortion pill
In the past 5 years, four healthy women taking the abortion pill mifepristone have died of toxic shock syndrome.
- Anthropology
Waves of Grain: New data lift old model of agriculture’s origins
A new analysis of the locations and ages of ancient farming sites reinforces the controversial idea that the groups that started raising crops in the Middle East gradually grew in number and colonized much of Europe.
- Health & Medicine
Pomegranate juice could fight Alzheimer’s
Drinking pomegranate juice, already linked to a host of positive health effects, may also slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
- Humans
Letters from the November 26, 2005, issue of Science News
Roads to ruin? Chloride concentration in streams should be a concern to everyone. However, projecting problems at century’s end based on the present rate of chloride increase is bad science (“Steep Degrade Ahead: Road salt threatens waters in Northeast,” SN: 9/24/05, p. 195). Salt use in some New England areas has roughly doubled in the […]
- Health & Medicine
Natural Ingredients: Method grows vessels from one’s own cells
Starting with bits of skin, scientists have produced new blood vessels in a laboratory and successfully implanted them into two patients.
- Health & Medicine
Pill eases craving
An experimental drug called varenicline helps cigarette smokers kick the habit better than bupropion does, the most effective medicine currently on the market.
- Health & Medicine
Endurance cycling tied to lasting heart damage
Former professional bicyclers have signs of heart problems nearly 4 decades after competing in grueling endurance events.
- Health & Medicine
New drug fights heart failure
The experimental drug levosimendin, in combination with standard drugs, eases heart failure symptoms better than standard drugs alone do.
- Health & Medicine
Marrow cells boost ailing hearts
Extracting cells from a heart attack patient's bone marrow and then inserting them into the person's heart via a catheter can improve pumping capacity.
- Health & Medicine
Sleep apnea could signal greater danger
The nighttime breathing disorder called obstructive sleep apnea might double a person's risk of death or stroke.
- Health & Medicine
Staring into the Dark
Amid a growing array of medications for treating insomnia, sleep researchers point to large gaps in their knowledge about which of these medicines work best and for how long they remain effective.
- Humans
Willis Harlow Shapley (1917-2005)
Willis Harlow Shapley, a longtime member of the Science Service Board of Trustees, died Oct. 24.
