Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Sun, 1 Nov 92 20:06:09 EST Message-ID: \SE A;SCIENCE/HEALTH;SCIENCE/HEALTH ROUNDUP \BY FROM WIRE DISPATCHES AND STAFF REPORTS S=NEW STORY European bones challenge theory LONDON - A recent discovery of early human bones in Spain challenges the belief that the ancestors of human beings originated solely in Africa, according to a report in the London Sunday Observer. The bones, dating back more than 250,000 years, show humans with large brains and well-developed physiques lived in Europe in pre-Neanderthal times, the Observer said. The discovery "will revolutionize our knowledge of human evolution," Chris Stringer, an expert at London's Natural History Museum, told the newspaper. The remains of up to 35 early humans, including two well-preserved skulls, were found in a cave at Atapuerca in northern Spain last summer. The larger skull, thought to be that of a male, has a brain capacity as big as modern man's, the Observer said. S=NEW STORY Scientists: Sex began 1.1 billion years ago LOS ANGELES - Sex on Earth began 1.1 billion years ago when tiny single-cell sea creatures called plankton developed pores that allowed the release of sex cells into ocean water, scientists say. There the cells of the parent plankton combined and developed into offspring, said J. William Schopf, a paleobiologist at the University of California at Los Angeles. Mr. Schopf and Carl Mendelson, of Beloit College in Wisconsin, determined when sexual reproduction began by analyzing diversity among fossilized plankton. Before sexual reproduction there was little genetic variety among the creatures, they said. Until then, plankton and other creatures multiplied asexually, meaning offspring were genetic copies of their parents. With sexual reproduction, "some of the genetic traits from the male and some from the female are combined so you get new traits," Mr. Schopf said. S=NEW STORY Colon cancer linked to diet, alcohol LOS ANGELES - People who take in a lot of calories, especially from fat and alcohol, are more at risk of getting colon cancer than people with a lower-calorie diet, a new study suggests. The research, supported by the National Cancer Institute, also indicated that calcium-rich foods - particularly yogurt - may help protect against colon cancer. "My advice would be to watch your calories from fat, don't drink too much alcohol and drink plenty of skim milk or eat nonfat yogurt," since both contain a lot of calcium, said researcher Ruth K. Peters, an associate professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California. S=NEW STORY Flea collar blamed for eye problem NEW YORK - A woman who sought emergency care for a shrunken pupil in one eye blamed it on a glancing blow to the head, but the real reason was probably a flea collar, doctors say. The woman had been struck by a hammer that fell from the top of a ladder. The next morning, she noticed that her left pupil was tiny while the other one appeared normal. A doctor found the left pupil only slightly smaller than the other, and by 20 minutes later it was the same size as the other. In response to questions, the woman said that sometime before she noticed the shrunken pupil she had changed her dog's flea collar, and soon after had put a contact lens in her left eye. She did not wear a contact lens in her other eye. The flea collar contained a dusting of a substance that can make the pupil shrink, doctors from Brockton Hospital in Brockton, Mass., wrote in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. S=NEW STORY Asteroid has astronomer's name SAN FRANCISCO - An asteroid has been named in honor of astronomer Andrew Fraknoi, who heads a popular astronomy group and edits a newsletter used by thousands of teachers. The International Astronomical Union recently announced the naming of asteroid Fraknoi, a 7-mile-wide chunk of rock in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It circles the sun every 3 1/2 years. Mr. Fraknoi - a college teacher, author, lecturer - is executive director of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM