Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
From the June 24, 1933, issue
LIGHTNING Lightning, most awesome of the spectacular forces of nature, has yielded some of its mystery to science. But not all. We no longer credit it, as did our ancestors, to an angry Zeus or an impetuous Thor. Since Ben Franklin flew his adventurous kites, nearly two centuries ago, we know it is “made of […]
- Health & Medicine
Double Duty: Diabetes drug protects reopened heart vessels
A drug normally prescribed to hold blood sugar in check provides an unexpected benefit to heart patients.
- Anthropology
New Guinea Went Bananas: Agriculture’s roots get a South Pacific twist
Inhabitants of New Guinea began to cultivate bananas in large quantities nearly 7,000 years ago, an agricultural practice that spread to Southeast Asia and throughout the Pacific region.
- Health & Medicine
MRI detects missed breast cancers
Magnetic resonance imaging detects breast cancer better than does mammography and might be preferable for certain women at high risk.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer vaccine gets first test in patients
The first clinical test of a cancer vaccine that targets a protein called carcinoembryonic antigen shows promise.
- Health & Medicine
Early cancer therapy and heart problems
Pediatric cancer treatment with chest radiation or anthracyclines can cause a heightened risk of heart disease at an earlier age than previously believed.
- Health & Medicine
Gene profiles might guide chemotherapy
Profiles of genetic variations in cancer patients could help oncologists predict the outcome of chemotherapy.
- Health & Medicine
Target: Celiac Disease
With the aim of releasing people with celiac disease from a strict, lifelong diet that lacks the wheat protein gluten, researchers are working to identify molecular targets that could block the disease’s hallmark, the degeneration of the lining of the small intestine.
- Humans
From the June 17, 1933, issue
STRATOSPHERE SHELL PREPARED FOR NAVIGATORS The little metal sphere that will be the stratosphere home of two men and scientific instruments for a few hours next month is rapidly being completed (SNL, May 27, ’33, p. 323). It is pictured on the front cover with Dr. Jean F. Piccard emerging at the unfinished vertex of […]
- Health & Medicine
Domestic Disease: Exotic pets bring pathogens home
The potentially deadly monkeypox virus has spread from Africa to people in several states via infected pet prairie dogs.
- Health & Medicine
Full-Length Pregnancy: Progesterone product may reduce premature births
A drug related to the female hormone progesterone helps some pregnant women who are prone to premature birth extend their pregnancies.
- Anthropology
African Legacy: Fossils plug gap in human origins
Scientists who discovered three partial Homo sapiens skulls in Ethiopia that date to nearly 160,000 years ago say that the finds document humanity's evolution in Africa, independently of European Neandertals.
