Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Archaeology
China’s Fermented Past: Pottery yields signs of oldest known wine
Analyses of ancient pottery have yielded evidence the people living in northern China 9,000 years ago concocted a fermented, winelike drink from rice, honey, and fruit.
- Health & Medicine
Shark Finning Faces Broader Sanctions
Even as the gruesome practice of shark finning faces a broader ban, regulators find challenges in bringing scofflaws to justice.
- Health & Medicine
TB vaccine gets a needed boost
An experimental vaccine against tuberculosis imparts significant immunity, but only in people who have previously received the existing bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine for TB.
- Health & Medicine
Sleeve worn on heart fights failure
A new mesh wrap can be placed around an expanded and weakened heart to restore the organ to an efficient, elliptical form.
- Health & Medicine
Up and down make different workouts
An unusual study conducted on an Alpine mountainside suggests that climbing a steep slope improves the body's ability to process certain fats, while descending such a slope enhances metabolism of a key sugar.
- Anthropology
Remnants of the Past
Sophisticated analyses suggest that some prehistoric peoples were highly skilled weavers.
- Humans
From the December 1, 1934, issue
Large propellers for an ocean liner, a new kind of nitrogen, and high blood pressure and thickening of arteries.
- Humans
Museum of Science
Interested in ancient Egypt, how your body ages, electron microscope images, or fractal patterns in nature? The Museum of Science in Boston offers a wide variety of online exhibits. You can learn the basics of robotics, explore Mt. Everest, venture to Antarctica, meet Leonardo da Vinci, dip into Earth’s oceans, and much more. Go to: […]
- Health & Medicine
How Carbs Can Make Burgers Safer
Though meats can develop carcinogens during grilling, adding potato starch before cooking can limit the carcinogens' formation and possibly uptake by the body.
- Humans
Letters from the December 4, 2004, issue of Science News
Shouting about decaf? As a decaf drinker, I found myself shouting, “What about caffeine”?” as I read “Coffee’s curious heart effects” (SN: 10/2/04, p. 222: Coffee’s curious heart effects). How can any report not, at least, mention its involvement or lack thereof? Greg TulloRaleigh, N.C. Researcher Pertti Happonen suspects that caffeine was responsible for the […]
- Health & Medicine
Antioxidant Booster: Protein curbs lung damage caused by smoke
A protein called Nrf2 defends against emphysema by activating dozens of genes that combat free radicals and toxic pollutants, a study in mice suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Stones-Be-Gone: Gene-targeting drug restores chemical balance protecting the gallbladder
A drug tested in mice prevents gallstones by stimulating a gene that controls levels of different chemicals in the gallbladder.
