Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Archaeology
A new study questions when people first reached South America
Data suggest people lived at Chile’s Monte Verde site thousands of years later than thought, challenging key “pre-Clovis” evidence. Not all agree.
- Health & Medicine
Are pig organs the future of transplantation?
Each year, thousands of people in the U.S. die waiting for donated organs. A new book shares how organs from other species could change that.
- Health & Medicine
Smartwatch data can be used to assess early diabetes risk
When combined with clinical markers, smartwatch data was able to help detect insulin resistance with nearly 90 percent accuracy.
- Climate
Extreme heat is cutting the time people can safely be active outdoors
Heat and humidity now severely limit light physical activity for millions of people around the world, with older adults facing the greatest burden.
- Neuroscience
Yaks may hint at a way to treat brain diseases like MS
A genetic mutation tied to keeping the brain healthy at high altitudes may point to a way to repair nerve damage, experiments in mice show.
- Health & Medicine
A newfound blood biomarker may one day predict longevity
Levels of six RNA molecules in the blood ID’d older adults likely to survive two more years. Whether it will work for other people is a big question.
- Climate
Why we fail to notice climate change
People quickly normalize extreme weather. Simple visuals highlighting abrupt change could help climate change break through our mental blind spots.
- Health & Medicine
AI may be giving teens bad nutrition advice
AI-generated meal plans for fictional teens cut an entire meal’s worth of calories and carbs while overemphasizing protein and fats, a new study reports.
- Health & Medicine
‘Smart underwear’ measures how often humans fart
“Zen digesters” rarely fart. “Hydrogen hyperproducers” fart a lot. Scientists are investigating what is typical.
- Health & Medicine
How does early pregnancy lower breast cancer risk? Odd cells could offer clues
Suspicious cells build up in mice that haven’t given birth, a new study finds. They could help explain a longstanding mystery of breast cancer biology.
- Neuroscience
The right sounds may turn sleep into a problem-solving tool
Lucid dreamers who heard puzzle-linked soundtracks while sleeping were more likely to solve those unsolved problems the next day.
- Health & Medicine
Over 40? Your rotator cuff probably looks a little rough
MRI scans of over 600 Finnish adults found that nearly all had frayed, torn or otherwise abnormal rotator cuffs — yet most had no symptoms.
