Humans
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Delaying Dementia
The limited success of attempts to treat Alzheimer's disease with several compounds that appear able to prevent the disorder suggests that the window for derailing the development of the illness may close years before cognitive decline becomes evident.
By Ben Harder - Humans
Mouse Mourned: Yoda dies at age 4
An age-defying laboratory mouse known as Yoda died peacefully in his cage in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 22, at the age of 4 years and 12 days.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Unsettling Association: Dental X rays linked to low-birth-weight babies
Getting dental X rays while pregnant might increase a woman's risk of giving birth to a low-birth-weight baby.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Tea Yields Prostate Benefits
Tea drinking appears to seed the body with compounds that retard the growth of prostate cancer.
By Janet Raloff - Archaeology
Stone Age Combustion: Fire use proposed at ancient Israeli site
A Stone Age site in Israel contains the oldest evidence of controlled fire use in Asia or Europe, from around 750,000 years ago, a research team reports.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Exercise boosts sugar’s taste
Studies in runners and in animals indicate that exercise increases an individual's sensitivity to sweetness.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Proteins mark ALS
Scientists reported finding what appears to be the first diagnostic test for Lou Gehrig's disease, potentially shaving a year off of when targeted treatment for the disease can begin.
By Janet Raloff - Humans
From the April 28, 1934, issue
An ancient crocodile, how loudness affects pitch, and observing the sun's corona.
By Science News - Humans
Messing Around with Music
San Francisco’s Exploratorium offers an entertaining, multimedia excursion into the science of music. Visit a virtual kitchen to sample some appliance sounds. Use video of a step dancer to compose music. Discover how various cultures around the world create musical instruments out of everyday objects. Try out a sound mixer and much more. Go to: […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Experimental drug boosts HDL counts
An experimental drug can dramatically increase blood concentrations of high-density lipoprotein, the beneficial cholesterol.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
CT scan no match for colonoscopy
Colonoscopy is better at detecting potentially dangerous colon polyps than computed tomography scanning is.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Coffee, Spices, Wine
Several dietary agents, including coffee, wine, and cinnamon, appear to restore some of the body's responsiveness to insulin, potentially slowing diabetes' onset or ravages.
By Janet Raloff