Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, early organ transplants brought triumph and tragedy
In 1968, the liver transplant field had its first small successes. Now, more than 30,000 patients in the U.S. receive a donated liver each year.
- Health & Medicine
A new study eases fears of a link between autism and prenatal ultrasounds
On almost every measure, prenatal ultrasounds doesn’t appear to be related to a risk of developing autism, a recent study finds.
- Humans
How to build a human brain
Organoids, made from human stem cells, are growing into brains and other miniorgans to help researchers study development
- Archaeology
Modern tech unravels mysteries of Egyptian mummy portraits
A museum exhibit showcases what modern analytical tools can reveal about ancient Egyptian funerary portraits and mummies.
- Tech
This stick-on patch could keep tabs on stroke patients at home
New wearable electronics that monitor swallowing and speech could aid rehabilitation therapy for stroke patients.
- Neuroscience
To hear the beat, your brain may think about moving to it
To keep time to a song, the brain relies on a region used to plan movement — even when you’re not tapping along.
- Anthropology
In Borneo, hunting emerges as a key threat to endangered orangutans
Only small numbers of Bornean orangutans will survive coming decades, researchers say.
- Genetics
Study debunks fishy tale of how rabbits were first tamed
A popular tale about rabbit domestication turns out to be fiction.
- 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.
