Humans
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Test Flight: Young scientists earn—and spread—their wings
A century after two brothers from Ohio launched the first powered aircraft, more than 1,200 students from 31 countries descended on Cleveland to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Breathe Easier: Lung surgery aids some emphysema patients
Surgery to remove diseased portions of the upper lungs can help emphysema patients breathe more efficiently, depending on the patient's health and where the damaged tissues are.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Novel tack against diabetes
Thwarting the production of immune proteins that induce inflammation prevents diabetes-prone mice from developing the disease.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Eating right early might reduce premature births
Malnutrition around the time of conception may promote early delivery of offspring.
By John Travis - Health & Medicine
School Lunches Are Struggling to Earn High Marks
In the nation’s schools, the presence of sweet, high-fat snacks in vending machines and on cafeteria lines is undercutting efforts by those institutions to improve the nutrition of U.S. youngsters. Or so conclude a pair of May 9 reports by the General Accounting Office (GAO), an investigative arm of Congress. More schools are offering healthy […]
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Bone Builder: New drug could heal hard-to-mend fractures
A synthetic compound can heal broken bones that are so damaged they don't knit on their own, a study in rats and dogs shows.
By Nathan Seppa - Anthropology
Stone Age Genetics: Ancient DNA enters humanity’s heritage
Genetic material extracted from the bones of European Stone Age Homo sapiens, sometimes called Cro-Magnons, bolsters the theory that people evolved independently of Neandertals.
By Bruce Bower - Humans
Sea burial for Canada’s cod fisheries
The Canadian government has declared an end to cod fishing in nearly all of the country’s Atlantic waters.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Boosting the TB vaccine
A new vaccine for tuberculosis outperforms the current one in tests on animals.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Fecal glow could improve meat safety
Workers who process animal carcasses into meat might soon use a novel type of laser scanner to identify products that have been contaminated with feces.
By Ben Harder - Humans
From the May 13, 1933, issue
RISING SILENTLY TO PROTECT NATIONS TIME Almost as silently as you view the new domed building in the cover picture, this all-steel structure is rising at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington. There is no hammering of rivets to fray the nerves of humans and upset the accuracy of the delicate Naval Observatory clocks that […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Preeclampsia Progress: Blood test for predicting pregnancy problems
A natural compound called asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) may play a role in preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication.
By Nathan Seppa