Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
The brain may clean out Alzheimer’s plaques during sleep
Sleep deprivation may speed up development of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Neuroscience
Pregnancy depression is on the rise, a survey suggests
Women today may be at greater risk of depression during pregnancy than previous generations.
- Health & Medicine
Scared of heights? This new VR therapy could help
Virtual reality may be good training ground for facing your fears in real life.
- Archaeology
Ötzi loaded up on fatty food before he died
A new analysis provides a complete picture of what was in Ötzi the Iceman’s stomach when he died.
- Archaeology
Texas toolmakers add to the debate over who the first Americans were
Stone toolmakers inhabited Texas more than 16,000 years ago, before Clovis hunters arrived.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer cells engineered with CRISPR slay their own kin
Scientists can program the stealth cells to die before creating new tumors.
- Archaeology
Stone tools put early hominids in China 2.1 million years ago
Newly discovered stone tools in China suggest hominids left Africa 250,000 years earlier than we thought.
- Science & Society
In research, detours are a key part of discovery
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses the scientific process and the often contradictory research about Alzheimer's disease.
- Health & Medicine
Air pollution is triggering diabetes in 3.2 million people each year
A new study quantifies the link between smoggy air and diabetes.
- Health & Medicine
No matter their size, newborn stomachs need frequent filling
Studies on newborn stomach size help explain why the tiny humans need to eat so frequently.
- Genetics
North America’s earliest dogs came from Siberia
North America’s first dogs have few descendants alive today, a study of ancient DNA suggests.
- Anthropology
Foot fossil pegs hominid kids as upright walkers 3.3 million years ago
A foot from an ancient hominid child suggests that Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis, walked early in life.
