Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Babies born in opioid withdrawal have unusually small heads
Infants born dependent on opioids had heads that were smaller than babies whose moms didn’t use the drugs during pregnancy.
- Health & Medicine
Many babies are crummy sleepers, confirming what millions of parents already know
A new survey suggests that lots and lots of babies aren’t sleeping through the night. The results may prompt new parents to lower their expectations.
- Humans
‘Little Foot’ skeleton analysis reignites debate over the hominid’s species
Long-awaited analyses of the Little Foot skeleton have researchers disagreeing over resurrecting a defunct species name.
- Health & Medicine
A gut-brain link for Parkinson’s gets a closer look
Early evidence suggests that Parkinson’s may be a gut disease that affects the brain.
- Health & Medicine
Two new books explore the science and history of the 1918 flu pandemic
One-hundred years after the Spanish flu, ‘Pandemic 1918’ and ‘Influenza’ provide a new look at the global outbreak.
- Genetics
A 5,000-year-old mass grave harbors the oldest plague bacteria ever found
DNA from an ancient strain of the plague-causing bacterium could help uncover the origins of the deadly disease.
- Health & Medicine
Baboons survive 6 months after getting a pig heart transplant
A team of German scientists used new methods to successfully transplant genetically modified and fully functioning pig hearts into baboons.
- Science & Society
Seeking a panacea in the gut’s microbiome
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses the potential role of the gut microbiome in Parkinson's disease and one reporter's connection to the story.
- Health & Medicine
In a first, a woman with a uterus transplanted from a deceased donor gives birth
After receiving a uterus from a deceased donor, a woman gave birth to a healthy girl in December of 2017.
- Archaeology
Stone Age people conquered the Tibetan Plateau’s thin air
Stone tools that are at least 30,000 years old suggest that people settled the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau earlier than scientists thought.
- Health & Medicine
Around the world, reported measles cases jumped 31 percent in 2017
While the number of reported measles cases has dropped 80 percent from 2000 to 2017, high profile outbreaks pushed the 2017 total up from 2016.
- Archaeology
Stone-tool makers reached North Africa and Arabia surprisingly early
Ancient Homo species spread advances in toolmaking far beyond East Africa.
