Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Cutting off a brain enzyme reversed Alzheimer’s plaques in mice
Inhibiting an enzyme involved in the production of Alzheimer’s protein globs also made old globs, or plaques, disappear in mouse brains.
- Anthropology
Elongated heads were a mark of elite status in an ancient Peruvian society
Elites in ancient Peruvian society developed a signature, stretched-out head shape over several centuries.
- Animals
Even after bedbugs are eradicated, their waste lingers
Bedbug waste contains high levels of the allergy-triggering chemical histamine, which stays behind even after the insects are eradicated.
- Health & Medicine
14 cattle eyeworms removed from Oregon woman’s eye
Oregon woman has the first ever eye infection with the cattle eyeworm Thelazia gulosa.
- Health & Medicine
The small intestine, not the liver, is the first stop for processing fructose
In mice, fructose gets processed in the small intestine before getting to the liver.
- Health & Medicine
Let your kids help you, and other parenting tips from traditional societies
Hunter-gatherers and villagers have some parenting tips for modern moms and dads.
- Science & Society
In play, kids and scientists take big mental leaps
Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill explores the science behind children's play and how kids like to mimic the same things adults do.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists are tracking how the flu moves through a college campus
Researchers are following the spread of viruses and illness among students in a cluster of University of Maryland dorms to learn more about how the bugs infect.
- Psychology
When it’s playtime, many kids prefer reality over fantasy
Given a choice between fantasy play and doing the things that adults do, children prefer reality-based tasks, studies suggest.
- Anthropology
Ancient kids’ toys have been hiding in the archaeological record
Some unusual finds from thousands of years ago are actually toys and children’s attempts at mimicking adult craftwork.
- Science & Society
‘Death: A Graveside Companion’ offers an outlet for your morbid curiosity
A coffee-table book explores how humans have tried to understand death through the ages.
- Neuroscience
A blood test could predict the risk of Alzheimer’s disease
A blood test can predict the presence of an Alzheimer’s-related protein in the brain.
