Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
Why some heart patients may be especially vulnerable to COVID-19
Researchers don’t yet know if the way the coronavirus enters cells may have something to do with the risks to the heart.
- Archaeology
The Nazareth Inscription’s origins may refute ties to Jesus’ resurrection
Chemical analysis shows the tablet’s marble came from a Greek island, challenging the idea the decree concerned early Christianity in the Middle East.
- Health & Medicine
Young adults can face severe cases of COVID-19, too
While risk of having a severe case of COVID-19 rises with age, younger adults are also landing in the hospital and ICU, new U.S. statistics show.
- Health & Medicine
HIV drugs didn’t work as a coronavirus treatment in a clinical trial
Antiviral HIV drugs “showed no benefit” when given to patients severely ill with COVID-19.
- Health & Medicine
How parents and kids can stay safe and sane during the coronavirus pandemic
Infectious disease experts weigh in on playdates, playgrounds and other parenting questions.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, scientists were trying to get a grip on Lassa fever
In 1970, scientists were on the trail of a deadly new virus. Fifty years later, a vaccine is just now being tested in people.
- Health & Medicine
People who didn’t know they had COVID-19 drove its spread in China
A new study suggests that mild cases, in which people have no symptoms or don’t get sick enough to go to a doctor, are fueling the coronavirus pandemic.
- Archaeology
This is one of the largest Ice Age structures made of mammoth bones
A massive ring of mammoth bones, built by hunter-gatherers during the Ice Age, offers a peek at life 25,000 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Coronavirus is most contagious before and during the first week of symptoms
As major efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic go into effect around the globe, researchers are figuring out just when patients are most contagious.
