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science/tech news
Sep. 11th, 2003 10:38 amFlickering images reduce nicotine craving
Looking at simple flickering images, or conjuring up mental pictures, can help stop cigarette cravings, researchers have discovered.
( Read more... )
Case reopens on Black Death cause
Fresh controversy has broken out over the cause of the Black Death that killed up to half the people in Europe in 1348 and circulated for centuries after that.
For a century the blame has rested with the bubonic plague bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is carried by rats and fleas. But the most ambitious effort yet to find traces of Yersinia in the remains of Black Death victims has failed, and the researchers involved argue that a previous study that did report finding Yersinia was flawed.
( Read more... )
'Living condom' could block HIV
Genetically-modified vaginal bacteria may be able to serve as a "living condom", secreting proteins that protect women against HIV, suggests a new report.
( Read more... )
Meat eating is an old human habit
Humans evolved beyond their vegetarian roots and became meat-eaters at the dawn of the genus Homo, around 2.5 million years ago, according to a study of our ancestors' teeth.
In 1999, researchers found cut marks on animal bones dated at around 2.5 million years old. But no one could be sure that they were made by meat-eating hominids, because none appeared to have suitable teeth.
( Read more... )
Generalist genes 'cause all learning disabilities'
Learning disabilities result from general problems in the brain rather than specific genetic or neurological defects, the British Association Festival of Science in Salford was told on Tuesday.
A large but unidentified group of genes, each with very small effects on overall brain function, work together to determine most of mental ability, says Robert Plomin, at the Institute of Psychiatry in London.
( Read more... )
Looking at simple flickering images, or conjuring up mental pictures, can help stop cigarette cravings, researchers have discovered.
( Read more... )
Case reopens on Black Death cause
Fresh controversy has broken out over the cause of the Black Death that killed up to half the people in Europe in 1348 and circulated for centuries after that.
For a century the blame has rested with the bubonic plague bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is carried by rats and fleas. But the most ambitious effort yet to find traces of Yersinia in the remains of Black Death victims has failed, and the researchers involved argue that a previous study that did report finding Yersinia was flawed.
( Read more... )
'Living condom' could block HIV
Genetically-modified vaginal bacteria may be able to serve as a "living condom", secreting proteins that protect women against HIV, suggests a new report.
( Read more... )
Meat eating is an old human habit
Humans evolved beyond their vegetarian roots and became meat-eaters at the dawn of the genus Homo, around 2.5 million years ago, according to a study of our ancestors' teeth.
In 1999, researchers found cut marks on animal bones dated at around 2.5 million years old. But no one could be sure that they were made by meat-eating hominids, because none appeared to have suitable teeth.
( Read more... )
Generalist genes 'cause all learning disabilities'
Learning disabilities result from general problems in the brain rather than specific genetic or neurological defects, the British Association Festival of Science in Salford was told on Tuesday.
A large but unidentified group of genes, each with very small effects on overall brain function, work together to determine most of mental ability, says Robert Plomin, at the Institute of Psychiatry in London.
( Read more... )
