Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Long-term ecstasy use impairs memory
Extended use of the illicit drug called MDMA or ecstasy exacerbated memory problems in users aged 17 to 31, none of whom reported alcohol dependence.
- Health & Medicine
Peptide puts mouse arthritis out of joint
A compound called vasointestinal peptide, which binds to immune system T cells and macrophages, thwarts arthritis in mice.
- Health & Medicine
Epileptic seizures may be predictable
Patterns of mild electrical disturbance in the brains of epilepsy patients appear to foreshadow a seizure hours before its onset.
- Health & Medicine
Anthrax Threat
Anthrax has evolved from a disease that farmers sometimes caught from livestock to a potent biological weapon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta offers a highly accessible Web site that answers basic questions about transmission, treatment, and prevention of anthrax. The site also provides links to Web pages that explain the biology […]
- Health & Medicine
Novel typhoid vaccine surpasses old ones
A new vaccine links a sugar molecule found on the surface of the bacterium that causes typhoid fever with a genetically engineered version of the exotoxin protein, which arouses the immune system to churn out antibodies against the bacterium.
- Anthropology
Peru Holds Oldest New World City
Construction of massive ceremonial buildings and residential areas at a Peruvian site began 4,000 years ago, making it the earliest known city in the Americas.
- Health & Medicine
Germ-killing plastic wrap
Biodegradable plastic that releases germ killers provides an example of what’s known as active packaging, and scientists report progress toward taking this concept to market. Paul Dawson and his colleagues at Clemson (S.C.) University are fashioning plastics from proteins found in corn, soy, and wheat. While these biodegradable polymers are being heated or compressed to […]
- Health & Medicine
Vitaminlike compound eases rare disorder
A vitaminlike substance called coenzyme Q10 helps people with familial cerebellar ataxia, a hereditary disorder that damages the spine and the part of the brain responsible for coordination.
- Anthropology
Human ancestors made ancient entry to Java
Layers of hardened volcanic ash on the Indonesian island of Java have yielded evidence that Homo erectus reached eastern Asia by 1.5 million years ago and remained there until about 1 million years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Blood markers of clogging arteries emerge
The concentration in blood of one chemically transformed cholesterol-carrying molecule may signal to doctors when a patient's heart disease has dangerously worsened.
- Health & Medicine
Natural antidepressant has its limits
St. John's wort, a popular ingredient in herbal remedies, may not help people with moderate or severe forms of depression.
- Anthropology
. . . and then takes some lumps
The skeletal diversity that many scientists use to divide up fossil species in our evolutionary past masks a genetic unity that actually encompassed relatively few species, contend researchers in an opposing camp.
