Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Archaeology

    Pompeii’s burial not its first disaster

    Recent excavations reveal that the city of Pompeii, famed for its burial by an eruption of Italy's Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, experienced several devastating landslides in the centuries preceding its demise.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Asthma Counterattack

    After several experimental attempts, researchers finally have verified that fighting allergens in the household can reduce symptoms of asthma.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    A Carrot Rainbow (with recipe)

    There are more than aesthetic benefits from looking beyond orange when it comes to selecting carrots.

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  4. Humans

    Letters from the November 20, 2004, issue of Science News

    When Earth got gas Considering the controversy that Thomas Gold engendered when he first postulated abiogenic origins of earthly hydrocarbons, it’s odd you didn’t mention his name, in “Deep Squeeze: Experiments point to methane in Earth’s mantle” (SN: 9/25/04, p. 198: Deep Squeeze: Experiments point to methane in Earth’s mantle). Edgar T. LynkNiskayuna, N.Y. Although […]

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  5. Humans

    From the November 17, 1934, issue

    Exploring Easter Island, warm air at high altitudes, and pulsating stars.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Lingering Loss: In 2-year diet trial, new pill keeps off weight

    Obese adults who lose weight during a year of taking an experimental diet drug, rimonabant, and dieting keep the weight off during the following year, if they continue the regimen.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Problems for Preemies: Early birth is linked to insulin overproduction

    Children born prematurely are more likely than their full-term counterparts to develop insulin resistance, a marker for diabetes.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Trials affirm value of drug

    The drug STI-571, previously shown to work against chronic myelogenous leukemia, also helps patients who have slipped into an acute, highly lethal form of this cancer.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Old and new drugs may fight myeloma

    In some people with a bone marrow cancer called multiple myeloma, treatment with thalidomide or PS-341, which induces programmed cell death, may improve their chances of survival.

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  10. Humans

    Genes on Display

    DNA becomes part of the artist's palette.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Antibiotics, vitamins stall stomach cancer

    A 6-year study shows that vitamin C, beta-carotene, and antibiotics can reverse premalignant conditions that could otherwise lead to stomach cancer.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Staph receptor as drug target

    A receptor molecule on the surface of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus might present an exploitable weak spot in the microbe's defenses.

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