Humans
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin relative may aid stroke repair
Dehydroascorbic acid, a precursor of vitamin C, may help stroke patients retain use of parts of their brain at risk from the blood shut-off caused by strokes.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Detecting cancer risk with a chip
Researchers can use microcantilevers studded with antibodies that react to prostate specific antigen, or PSA, to analyze blood samples for signs of prostate cancer.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
EMFs in home may limit night hormone
A pair of studies suggests a link, at least in some women, between elevated residential exposure to electromagnetic fields and reduced production of the hormone melatonin.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Aging cells may promote tumors nearby
Cells that enter a state called senescence in older individuals may stimulate nearby cells to become tumors.
By John Travis - Health & Medicine
Chemical Neutralizes Anthrax Toxin
Scientists have created a synthetic compound that, when tested in rats, disables the toxin that makes anthrax lethal.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Oceans apart, but surgery succeeds
A French group performed the first transatlantic operation when surgeons in New York controlled a robot in Strasbourg, France, which removed a woman's gall bladder.
- Health & Medicine
For a change, infection stymies HIV
A hepatitis-like virus that causes no known diseases seems to help people stave off the progression of HIV, the AIDS virus.
- Anthropology
Humans in eastern Asia show ancient roots
Human ancestors lived in northeastern Asia about 1.36 million years ago, making it the oldest confirmed occupation site in eastern Asia.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Acacia-tree extract fights cancer in mice
Compounds called avicins extracted from Acacia victoriae, an Australian desert tree, inhibit inflammation and cancer in test-tube and mouse studies.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Germs can survive weeks on fabrics, plastic
Soft, dry surfaces in hospitals can harbor live germs for more than a month.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Blood vessels (sans blood) shape organs
Even before they begin to carry blood, blood vessels provide signals that help spark the development of organs such as the liver.
By John Travis - Anthropology
Isotopes reveal sources of ancient timbers
Isotopic analysis of architectural timbers from ancient dwellings in the U.S. Southwest has shown from which distant forests the massive logs came.
By Sid Perkins