Humans
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Epilepsy drug eases diabetes woes
The epilepsy drug topiramate relieves pain, seems to initiate nerve repair, aids weight loss, and may have other benefits for persons with diabetes.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Strict regimen pays off years later
Diabetes patients who adhered to a strict program of blood sugar control over nearly 7 years starting in the 1980s are still showing heart benefits.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
Tobacco treaty penned
Just one day after the World Health Organization drafted a tobacco-control treaty, more than 28 nations signed on.
By Janet Raloff - Anthropology
The Ultimate Colonists
Human ancestors managed to adjust to life in a variety of ecosystems during the Stone Age, indicating that their social lives were more complex than they've often been given credit for.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Lethal Emergence: Tracing the rise of dengue fever in the Americas
Using the genetics of viruses, scientists have tracked a virulent form of dengue virus in Latin America back to its roots in India.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Soy Greens—The Coming Health Food?
Soybeans have gained renown for offering a host of health benefits. Not only do diets rich in products made from this legume appear to protect against heart disease and some cancers, but they also help to preserve bones in aging bodies. Yum? Diets augmented with leaves of the soybean plant might help diners control their […]
By Janet Raloff - Humans
From the July 1, 1933, issue
SEVEN MUMMIES FROM TEXAS CAVE BROUGHT TO SMITHSONIAN Seven mummies preserved apparently by natural dryness of the Texas cave where they were buried, have just been received by the Smithsonian institution. The mummies shed new light on the prehistoric cave dwellers of the Big Bend region of Texas whose cave shelters have been explored in […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Prostate Health
Many men over age 50 rarely sleep through the night. Instead, they find themselves awake and needing to urinate when, as younger men, this rarely happened. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases offers an excellent resource on the most common cause of frequent and urgent urination in men–benign prostatic hyperplasia, or […]
By Science News - Anthropology
The Forager King
A celebrated anthropologist surprises and inspires his biographer.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Can poliovirus fix spinal cord damage?
Scientists have devised a version of the poliovirus that can deliver genes to motor neurons without harming them, a step toward a gene therapy that reawakens idle neurons in people with spinal cord damage.
By Nathan Seppa - Archaeology
Ancient Site Holds Cannibalism Clues
An 800-year-old Anasazi site in Colorado yields contested evidence of cannibalism.
By Bruce Bower - Humans
Ideal Justice: Mathematicians judge the Supreme Court
The current U.S. Supreme Court of nine judges behaves as if it were made up of 4.68 "ideal" justices who make their decisions completely independently, a mathematical analysis suggests.