Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Radiation harms blood vessels before gut
The side-effects of radiation therapy may result from initial damage to blood vessels.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
Arthritis drug succeeds vs. psoriasis
People with the skin disorder psoriasis respond well to infliximab, a drug normally given to arthritis patients.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
Nicotine spurs vessel growth, maybe cancer
Test-tube and mouse experiments show that nicotine induces angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels.
- Health & Medicine
Have a heart: Turn on just a single gene
One gene appears to act as the master switch in embryonic heart formation.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin E benefits cattle, too
Vitamin E aids immune system function and prevents growth declines in cattle, offering an alternative to potentially dangerous use of low-dose antibiotics.
