Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Tea and a Daughter’s Puberty

    The age at which a girl first starts her monthly menstrual periods is later among daughters of tea drinkers than among daughters of moms who typically choose coffee or another beverage.

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  2. Humans

    From the June 9, 1934, issue

    Mexican archaeology, dry ice for shrinking metals, and choosing optimal flight paths for airplanes.

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  3. Humans

    Letters from the June 12, 2004, issue of Science News

    Go with the flow In “Tales of the Undammed: Removing barriers doesn’t automatically restore river health” (SN: 4/10/04, p. 235: Tales of the Undammed), the photo comparison of the dam site is deceptive because the two photos of the same spot appear to have been taken during different seasons. Hence, the lower photo shows a […]

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Green tea takes on poison

    Green tea contains a broad range of compounds that detoxify dioxin.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Americans eat faster, and more

    More and more people are eating at fast-food restaurants, and they down significantly more calories on the days they do.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Statins might fight multiple sclerosis

    Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs might work against multiple sclerosis by reducing inflammation, preliminary evidence suggests.

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  7. Humans

    From the June 2, 1934, issue

    The first chimpanzee twins born in captivity, increased speed and safety for aircraft, and a new pH indicator.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Gender Neutral: Men, women face same cancer risk from smoking

    Women who smoke are no more susceptible to lung cancer than are male smokers.

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  9. Humans

    Letters from the June 5, 2004, issue of Science News

    Blackened reputation Again, humans are implicated in the promotion and distribution of our own misery (“Medieval cure-all may actually have spread disease,” SN: 4/3/04, p. 222: Medieval cure-all may actually have spread disease). However, if bitumen was wrongly credited with darkening the skin of mummified remains, what caused it? Robert FizekNewton, Mass. The coating on […]

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  10. Humans

    Simple water filter can nail arsenic

    Field tests suggest that people who live in areas with arsenic-tainted aquifers may be able to purify their drinking water by passing it through a low-tech, low-cost filter that includes a bed of iron nails.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Breast milk may lower cholesterol

    Feeding a newborn baby breast milk instead of formula during the first month of life improves the child's cholesterol readings later on.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Cardiovascular Showdown—Chocolate vs. Coffee

    Chocolate appears to be good for your arteries, whereas coffee—or at least its caffeine—does damage.

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