Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Science & Society
HPV vaccine as cancer prevention is a message that needs to catch on
Vaccination against HPV is cancer prevention, but low vaccination rates suggest that message isn’t clear.
- Health & Medicine
Zika hides out in body’s hard-to-reach spots
Zika virus sticks around in the central nervous system and lymph nodes of monkeys.
- Archaeology
First settlers reached Americas 130,000 years ago, study claims
Mastodon site suggests first Americans arrived unexpectedly early.
- Health & Medicine
Long naps lead to less night sleep for toddlers
Daytime naps can steal sleep from the night, a small study of toddlers suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Faux womb keeps preemie lambs alive
A device can keep premature lambs alive for a month in womblike conditions.
- Humans
Homo naledi’s brain shows humanlike features
South African Homo species had small but humanlike brain, scientists say.
- Archaeology
Oldest evidence of patterned silk loom found in China
Chinese finds offer earliest look at game-changing weaving machine.
- Anthropology
Ötzi the Iceman froze to death
Copper Age Iceman froze to death, with shoulder and head damage.
- Health & Medicine
Evidence is lacking that ‘cocooning’ prevents whooping cough in newborns
In general, vaccinating adults who come into close contact with newborns is a good idea, but the practice on its own may not keep whooping cough away.
- Health & Medicine
Frog slime protein fights off the flu
Urumin, a protein found in Indian frog mucus secretions, has a knack for taking down H1 flu viruses, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Frog slime protein fights off the flu
Urumin, a protein found in Indian frog mucus secretions, has a knack for taking down H1 flu viruses, a new study finds.
- Archaeology
How the house mouse tamed itself
When people began to settle down, animals followed. Some made successful auditions as our domesticated species. Others — like mice — became our vermin, a new study shows.
