Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Social distancing comes with psychological fallout
Keeping people apart can help slow the new coronavirus’ spread. But such social distancing may cause or worsen mental health problems.
- Health & Medicine
How antibody tests work and could help fight the coronavirus
Coronavirus antibody tests look for signs in the blood that someone has had an infection and recovered, and could take only a finger prick.
- Health & Medicine
Face mask shortages have sparked creative solutions. Will they work?
Homemade masks, reusing masks and even scuba gear are some of the ideas for dealing with health care workers’ lack of supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Health & Medicine
There’s no evidence the coronavirus jumped from pangolins to people
Pangolins captured in anti-smuggling activities in southern China were found to harbor viruses related to the new coronavirus.
- Archaeology
Neandertals’ extensive seafood menu rivals that of ancient humans
Finds from a coastal cave in Portugal reveal repeated ocean foraging for this European hominid.
- Genetics
No, the coronavirus wasn’t made in a lab. A genetic analysis shows it’s from nature
Scientists took conspiracy theories seriously and analyzed the coronavirus to reveal its natural origins.
- Archaeology
New Guinea’s Neolithic period may have started without outside help
Islanders on New Guinea experienced cultural changes sparked by farming about 1,000 years before Southeast Asians arrived, a study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
You can help fight the coronavirus. All you need is a computer
With Folding@home, people can donate computing time on their home computers to the search for a chemical Achilles’ heel in the coronavirus.
- Health & Medicine
When will the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing end?
Social distancing may have to continue for months to prevent a resurgence of COVID-19. Wider testing and isolation of cases could ease such measures.
- Health & Medicine
Here’s where bacteria live on your tongue cells
Scientists labeled bacteria from tongue scrapings with fluorescent probes to glimpse at how the microbes structure their communities.
- Health & Medicine
The number of steps per day, not speed, is linked to mortality rate
Researchers report an association between the total number of steps a person takes each day and the rate of death from any cause.
- Health & Medicine
A tooth-enamel protein is found in eyes with a common form of macular degeneration
Researchers linked a tooth-enamel protein with calcium deposits in eyes suffering ‘dry’ AMD, which could lead to treatments for the vision disorder.
