Humans

Humans

Science Talent Search announces finalists

Science Service and Intel announced the 40 finalists of the 2001 Intel Science Talent Search this week.

Health & Medicine

Medicinal Mimicry

While researchers tease out the mechanisms behind the ability of inert pills and sham procedures to trigger health benefits, the ethics of using such placebos in medical research trials is coming under increasing scrutiny.

Health & Medicine

Success clearing clogged arteries

In the past 10 years, angioplasty and other procedures to unblock clogged arteries have steadily improved, probably due to increasing use of wire-mesh tubes called stents to help patients’ arteries stay open.

Health & Medicine

A sticky problem solved

Researchers have identified a protein integral to making blood clot, a finding they hope will lead to better drugs for preventing clots in people at risk of heart attack or stroke.

Humans

Explosions, not a collision, sank the Kursk

Analyses of the shock waves recorded at seismic stations across northern Europe indicate that the Russian submarine Kursk sank due to onboard explosions, not a run-in with another vessel.

Health & Medicine

Found: Mutation for deadly nerve disorder

Two research teams have discovered the genetic mutation that causes familial dysautonomia, a lethal hereditary disease that causes nervous system damage.

Health & Medicine

Radiation therapy keeps arteries clear

Two new studies add to the growing evidence that radiation treatment may keep arteries open longer after angioplasty.

Anthropology

Rumble in the Jungle

A new book raises troubling and controversial issues regarding research on a famous South American Indian population.

Health & Medicine

Dietary stress may compromise bones

Internal conflict about what and how much to eat not only induces production of a stress hormone but also may eventually weaken bones.

Health & Medicine

Raloxifene doesn’t hike breast density

Estrogen-replacement therapy that includes estrogen increases breast-tissue density among postmenopausal women, but the estrogen-replacement drug raloxifene doesn’t.

Anthropology

Human ancestors had taste for termites

Incisions on ancient bone implements found in South Africa indicate that human ancestors gathered termites, a protein-rich food source, more than 1 million years ago.

Health & Medicine

Cocaine link to heart attack bolstered

Regular cocaine use may account for one-fourth of nonfatal heart attacks in people under age 45.