Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

More Stories in Humans

  1. Archaeology

    The oldest known dice date back about 12,000 years in North America

    A study of ancient artifacts suggests Native American dice games began thousands of years earlier than previously documented.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Digital heart twins can guide a lifesaving procedure

    Heart replicas helped doctors spot good targets for ablation in 10 patients. Months later, all of them are free of sustained faulty rhythms.

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  3. Science & Society

    Pronatalists want more babies. Their solutions aren’t rooted in science

    Conservative pronatalists want a return to the traditional nuclear family. But that family structure is at odds with how humans evolved.

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  4. Paleontology

    Early apes may not have evolved in East Africa

    Fossil jaw remains found in Egypt suggest that the earliest modern apes evolved in North Africa, not in East Africa where most fossils have been found.

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  5. Science & Society

    Social media can be addictive, a jury finds. Research hints at a link

    Instagram and YouTube intentionally designed social media platforms to hook users, a landmark court case found. A pediatrician explains the ruling’s impact.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Start cholesterol tests in childhood, new guidelines say

    The idea is to control bad cholesterol early in life. Additional tests are also recommended to provide a clearer picture of risk.

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  7. Animals

    When were dogs domesticated? The oldest known dog DNA offers clues

    Two new studies suggest that genetically stable dogs were living among humans in Europe by about 14,000 years ago.

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  8. Archaeology

    Neandertals made antibacterial ointment, but may not have known it

    A team of scientists re-created the way Neandertals made birch tar and found its antibacterial properties could fight off skin infections.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Amid vaccine policy whiplash, here’s how a pediatrician talks to families

    A court ruling that blocks Trump administration vaccine policy is a win for science. But much work remains to rebuild trust in vaccines.

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