Humans
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Oh Boy—Is Mom Hungry!
At birth, boys tend to weigh about 100 grams (3.5 ounces) more than girls. An international research team wondered whether that meant that boys’ moms ate more during pregnancy. In data published this week, the scientists now confirm that’s exactly what happens. Though women eat more when carrying a boy, they don’t gain more weight […]
By Janet Raloff - Humans
From the June 10, 1933, issue
BRAINLIKE STALAGMITES FOUND IN MARYLAND CAVE Stalagmite deposits shaped like human brains have been found on the floor of a newly discovered cave in Mount Etna, near Beaver Creek, Md., about 60 miles from Washington. James H. Benn of the Smithsonian Institution staff, who was detailed to make a geological investigation, brought one of them […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Cancer Advance: Treatment combinations stall colorectal cancer
Two experimental drugs can induce remission in colorectal cancer patients and extend their survival.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Skipping Meals Might Offer Health Gains
People assume that the ideal meal schedule spreads calorie intake over the course of the day: Never skip breakfast, keep your blood sugar on an even keel, and all that. But Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, suspects that conventional wisdom may be due for an overhaul. Skipping breakfast? […]
By Ben Harder - Humans
From the June 3, 1933, issue
TWO MECHANICAL MEN EXPLAIN BODY’S MECHANISM Mechanical men reveal to the visitors of the Century of Progress exhibition the physiology and chemistry of the human body. The famous transparent man, manufactured in Germany, as a life-sized display of the vital organs of human anatomy is a central exhibit in the medical section of the Hall […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Heart drug derails algal toxin
A drug for treating high cholesterol might someday find use relieving the debilitating symptoms of poisoning from some algal toxins.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Herbal Lottery
Many herbal-product makers aren't maintaining adequate quality control, prompting the Food and Drug Administration to propose rules that mandate good manufacturing practices.
By Janet Raloff - Humans
Fellowships awarded to Science News writers
Two Science News writers recently received prestigious fellowships.
- Anthropology
Humanity’s pedestal lowered again?
A new genetic study reaches the controversial conclusion that chimpanzees belong to the genus Homo, just as people do.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Gene therapy thwarts hepatitis C in mice
Gene therapy that induces infected liver cells to self-destruct slows hepatitis C dramatically in mice.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Flawed Therapy: Hormone replacement takes more hits
Elderly women taking estrogen and progestin are more likely to develop dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, and stroke than are women not taking the hormones.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
From the May 27, 1933, issue
CRYSTAL WONDERLAND You can see all these things through a microscope, as scientists and laymen have been seeing them for many years. But the way into this Lilliputia of the waters is being made even easier for you through the amazing artistry in glass of a worker at the American Museum of Natural History in […]
By Science News