Mosquitoes, Not Birds, Made West Nile National
March 5, 2010, 9:40 am by Scientific American: Health
In 1999, West Nile virus infected its first American, in New York. By 2004, the disease had spread across the country. Researchers speculated that, for the disease to spread so far so quickly, birds must have helped. Some species could carry the disease and pass it on to mosquitoes, which would then infect humans. But a report published March 2nd in the journal Molecular Ecology [not available online as this episode was posted] says mosquitoes didn’t need a middleman. Or in this case, a middle bird. [More]
Read the full article
More from
Scientific American: Health
Smart Jocks: Sports Helps Kids Classroom Performance (preview)
Scientific American: Health : September 9, 2010, 10:00 am
Despite frequent reports that regular exercise benefits the adult brain, when it comes to schoolchildren, the concept of the dumb jock persists. The star quarterback stands in stark contrast to the math-team
New MRI maps assess connectivity to establish "brain age" curve for children and adults
Scientific American: Health : September 9, 2010, 4:20 am
As children grow, brambles of short brain connections are gradually pruned down to longer, stronger neural pathways. Research has shown this trend to follow a fairly standard curve during
Prescription for a Healthier Brain: Coffee and Cigarettes?
Scientific American: Health : September 8, 2010, 9:00 am
Inspired by human studies showing that avid coffee drinkers and smokers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease, scientists at the University of Washington decided to see what java and cigarettes do
Psilocybin found to ease end-of-life anxiety in small study of patients with fatal cancer
Scientific American: Health : September 8, 2010, 3:31 am
Can the active ingredient in " magic mushrooms " help those with terminal cancer cope with their fate? That was the question asked by researchers, who published the results of their
Cheaper treatment for HIV-infected infants could also be more effective
Scientific American: Health : September 7, 2010, 6:40 am
Babies born to mothers with HIV have a much smaller risk of getting the virus themselves if medical personnel administer preventive drugs, such as nevirapine, at birth to the
|
