Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Big meals boost heart attack risk

    Unusually heavy meals boost a person's chance of developing a heart attack, at least among those people who already have risk factors for heart disease.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    It’s that time. . .for heart attacks?

    A small study of young women already at high risk of having a heart attack suggests that heart attacks are most frequent when estrogen levels are low, soon after a woman's period begins.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    New role for cholesterol-lowering drugs

    Drugs that lower cholesterol benefit patients who have just had a heart attack or chest pains, regardless of the patient's initial cholesterol levels.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Does vitamin A aid learning?

    A lack of Vitamin A may cause learning and memory problems, albeit potentially reversible ones.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Old antibiotic takes on Alzheimer’s

    An antibiotic that binds copper and zinc may prevent brain deposits that cause Alzheimer's disease.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Pesticide tied to Parkinson’s disease

    Rodents exposed to massive amounts of the pesticide rotenone develop a condition similar to Parkinson's disease.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    New sources and uses for stem cells

    Human skin and scalp tissue may provide a source of neural stem cells.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Vaccine protects monkeys from Ebola virus

    A combination of a DNA vaccine and a vaccine based on a genetically modified common cold virus enables monkeys to resist Ebola virus, the first evidence that an Ebola vaccine works in primates.

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  9. Humans

    Letters from the October 16, 2004, issue of Science News

    Hubble grumble The cover type “Farewell to Hubble?” (“End of the Line for Hubble?” SN: 7/24/04, p. 56: End of the Line for Hubble?) makes me wonder why we haven’t seen the headline “Farewell to the Current NASA Administrator?” The only reason I have heard for the cancellation of the planned servicing mission is “it’s […]

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Is Vitamin D Fattening?

    People who don't consume enough calcium may find vitamin D sabotages their weight-control efforts by promoting fat gain.

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  11. Humans

    From the October 13, 1934, issue

    A wingless rooster, production of artificial radioactive elements, and novae proposed as the origin of cosmic rays.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Dormant Cancer: Lack of a protein sends tumor cells to bed

    Excess amounts of a protein called Myc triggers cancer in mice, but ratcheting back this supply sends the malignant cells into dormancy.

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