Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Anthropology
Y Trail of the First Americans: DNA data point to late New World entry
Scientists identified a gene variant on the Y chromosome that allowed them to estimate that people first reached the Americas no earlier than about 18,000 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
One bug’s bane may be another’s break
People who carry pneumococcus bacteria in their nasal passages may be partially protected against having their noses colonized by Staphylococcus aureus.
- Health & Medicine
Drug combination unexpectedly flops
A combination of therapies that researchers anticipated would work well against HIV failed to stop the virus from replicating in more than half the volunteers who received it.
- Health & Medicine
Resistant staph spreads in communities
Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus—once a problem limited mainly to health care settings—has become a menace in communities around the world.
- Health & Medicine
Amid bleak outlook, antibiotic shines
Encouraging research on a novel antibiotic offers a rare shot of optimism at a time when existing microbe-killing compounds are losing effectiveness and efforts to develop replacements are flagging.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists retract ecstasy drug finding
Scientists have recanted a controversial report on the dangers of the drug commonly called ecstasy.
- Health & Medicine
Broken arms way up
Broken arms among adolescents have risen sharply from 30 years ago, possibly because of the popularity of high-risk sports such as skateboarding and a combination of less milk intake and more soft drink consumption.
- Archaeology
Ancient tunnel keeps biblical date
Radiocarbon dating of material from an ancient tunnel in Jerusalem indicates that the passage was built around 700 B.C., supporting a biblical account of the tunnel's construction.
- Humans
From the September 30, 1933, issue
FIRST GLIMPSES OF A NEW WORLD Dr. George Roemmerts “Microvivarium,” which projects enormously enlarged images of living microscopic plants and animals on a screen, is a prime attraction of the Hall of Science at the Century of Progress. It has given thousands who have never looked through a microscope their first view of the amazing […]
- Humans
Flight Notes
Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first powered, sustained, and controlled flight in a heavier-than-air flying machine on Dec. 17, 1903. Now, the Library of Congress has prepared a display of items from its extensive collection of the Wright Brothers’ papers. The online exhibit includes photographs, a timeline, numerous documents, and much more. Go to: […]
- Health & Medicine
Checkmate for a Child-Killer?
If a new generation of vaccines pans out, the days of rotavirus, which kills at least 450,000 infants and children every year by causing severe diarrhea, may be numbered.
- Archaeology
Origins of Smelting: Lake yields core of pre-Inca silver making
Metal concentrations in soil extracted from a Bolivian lake indicate that silver production in the region began 1,000 years ago, 4 centuries before well-known silver-making efforts by the Incas.
