Humans

  1. Health & Medicine

    Reptilian drug may help treat diabetes

    The synthetic version of exendin-4, a compound in gila monster venom, helps insulin injections control blood sugar in people with type I, or juvenile-onset, diabetes.

    By Nathan Seppa
  2. Health & Medicine

    Thinking blurs when blood sugar strays

    Blood sugar concentrations that are too high or too low can impair thinking and, in the case of low blood sugar, driving ability.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    Radiation harms blood vessels before gut

    The side-effects of radiation therapy may result from initial damage to blood vessels.

    By John Travis
  4. Health & Medicine

    Sticky platelets boost blood clots

    Tests for genetic variations of a key protein on platelets, the cell-like blood components that form clots, and their propensity to clump could help physicians determine optimal medication for heart disease patients.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Anthropology

    Earliest Ancestor Emerges in Africa

    Scientists have found 5.2- to 5.8-million-year-old fossils in Ethiopia that represent the earliest known members of the human evolutionary family.

    By Bruce Bower
  6. Health & Medicine

    Marijuana may boost heart attack risk

    Marijuana seems to heighten the risk of heart attack in some people during the hour after which it is smoked.

    By Nathan Seppa
  7. Health & Medicine

    Arthritis drug succeeds vs. psoriasis

    People with the skin disorder psoriasis respond well to infliximab, a drug normally given to arthritis patients.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Health & Medicine

    Insulin shots fail to prevent diabetes

    Insulin injections failed to prevent type I, or juvenile-onset, diabetes from developing in children and young adults predisposed to the disease.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    Does lack of sleep lead to diabetes?

    Lack of sleep makes healthy adults somewhat resistant to the effects of the hormone insulin, suggesting it could predispose people toward type II, or adult-onset, diabetes.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Archaeology

    Stone Age folk in Asia adapted to extremes

    Preliminary evidence indicates that people occupied the harsh, high-altitude environment of Asia's Tibetan Plateau in the late Stone Age, between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago.

    By Bruce Bower
  11. Humans

    Physicist steps up to be science adviser

    President Bush has announced that he intends to nominate John Marburger, the head of Brookhaven National Laboratory, as his science advisor.

    By Charlotte Schubert
  12. Health & Medicine

    Nicotine spurs vessel growth, maybe cancer

    Test-tube and mouse experiments show that nicotine induces angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels.

    By Nathan Seppa