Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
A common food additive may make the flu vaccine less effective
A food preservative may impair the ability to fight the flu, a study in mice suggests.
- Health & Medicine
When an older person’s brain waves are in sync, memory is boosted
A brain stimulation treatment that nudges older people’s brain waves into sync could lead to noninvasive therapies for dementia and other disorders.
- Health & Medicine
Readers seek answers to stories about shingles, Neandertal spears and more
Readers had questions about Neandertal spears, Earth’s inner core and more.
- Health & Medicine
Testing mosquito pee could help track the spread of diseases
A new way to monitor the viruses that wild mosquitoes are spreading passes its first outdoor test.
- Psychology
What we know and don’t know about how mass trauma affects mental health
Three people connected to mass shootings have recently killed themselves. Here’s what we know, and don’t, about the lingering effects of mass trauma.
- Anthropology
Foreigners may have conquered ancient Egypt without invading it
Dental evidence suggests female Hyksos immigrants married into power.
- Health & Medicine
Pumping may be linked to an altered microbial mix in breast milk
Beneficial bacteria are more abundant in the milk of mothers whose babies feed straight from the breast.
- Health & Medicine
In ‘The Perfect Predator,’ viruses vanquish a deadly superbug
In ‘The Perfect Predator,’ an epidemiologist recounts the battle to save her husband from an antibiotic-resistant infection.
- Health & Medicine
A single-dose antidote may help prevent fentanyl overdoses
Packing overdose medication into nanoparticles could help it better counteract dangerous synthetic opioids.
- Anthropology
The first known fossil of a Denisovan skull has been found in a Siberian cave
A new fossil and evidence that the hominids interbred with humans as recently as 15,000 years ago only add to Denisovans’ mystery.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, drug abuse was higher among physicians than the public
In 1969, physicians abused drugs at a higher rate than the general public — that’s still true today.
- Health & Medicine
Blood vessels built from a patient’s cells could help people on dialysis
Bioengineered blood vessels could provide a safer alternative than donor vessels or synthetic implants.
