Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Ebola vaccine proves effective
The Ebola vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV proved effective at stopping the spread of the virus in a clinical trial in West Africa.
- Health & Medicine
Ebola vaccine proves effective, final trial results show
The Ebola vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV proved effective at stopping the spread of the virus in a clinical trial in West Africa.
- Neuroscience
How scientists are hunting for a safer opioid painkiller
Scientists are sorting through chemical structures, twisting and turning known drugs and exploring new ways to ease pain.
- Health & Medicine
New blood tests can detect prions
Blood tests may detect prion disease in people even before onset of symptoms.
- Health & Medicine
Motherhood might actually improve memory
Having a baby changes all sorts of things, including a mother’s brain.
- Health & Medicine
The Flint water crisis and other public health woes from 2016
Drug use continued to threaten the health and safety of the American public in 2016, while a hidden menace in drinking water remained a worry in Michigan.
- Anthropology
Monkeys have vocal tools, but not brains, to talk like humans
Macaques have vocal tracts, but not brains, built for talking much as people do, scientists say.
- Anthropology
New footprint finds suggest range of body sizes for Lucy’s species
Tracks discovered in Tanzania appear to have belonged to the tallest known Australopithecus afarensis individual, but stature estimates can be tricky.
- Genetics
Proteins that reprogram cells can turn back mice’s aging clock
Proteins that reprogram adult cells to an embryonic-like state can rejuvenate prematurely aging mice.
- Health & Medicine
Birth defects occur in 1 in 10 pregnancies with first trimester Zika infection
About 6 percent of U.S. women infected with Zika virus have infants or fetuses with birth defects, according to preliminary CDC results. For women infected in the first trimester, the number is even higher: nearly 11 percent.
- Health & Medicine
Year in review: Zika virus devastates Brazil and spreads fear across Americas
The increase in microcephaly in Brazil has spread fear of Zika infection across the Americas.
- Genetics
Year in review: ‘Three-parent baby’ technique raises hope and concern
Safety and ethical concerns surround controversial mitochondrial replacement therapy.
