Humans
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Health & Medicine
Fallout from nuclear bomb testing presaged today’s radioactive tracers
Scientists in 1965 measured buildup of radioactive carbon from nuclear bomb testing in people.
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Health & Medicine
Signs of sleep debt found in the blood
When rats and people skimp on sleep, fats and acids involved in metabolism dwindle.
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Neuroscience
Shots of brain cells restore learning, memory in rats
Scientists healed damage caused to rats’ brains from radiation by injecting cells that replenish the insulation on neurons.
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Health & Medicine
Handheld device turns smartphone into diagnostic tool
A compact device can process a blood sample to diagnose HIV or syphilis when attached to a smartphone.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & Medicine
E-cigarettes lower immunity to flu and other germs
Electronic cigarettes produce substantial amounts of lung inflammation, a new mouse study finds. They may also reduce the ability to fight off infections from strep and flu germs.
By Janet Raloff -
Humans
Baby brains undergo dramatic changes in utero
Developing human brains experience more than 28,000 changes in a molecular process that governs gene activity.
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Anthropology
Ancient Maya bookmakers get paged in Guatemala
New discoveries peg ritual specialists as force behind bark-paper tomes and wall murals.
By Bruce Bower -
Health & Medicine
Even when correct, diagnoses can harm kids
Overdiagnosis is well documented in adults but is often overlooked in children and can lead to unnecessary treatments.
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Neuroscience
Newly identified brain circuit could be target for treating obesity
In mice, specific nerve cells control compulsive sugar consumption, but not normal feeding, hinting at a new therapeutic target for treating obesity.
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Health & Medicine
Ebola vaccine performs well in U.K. human trial
A vaccine that protects against the Zaire strain of Ebola turns in promising preliminary results from a human trial.
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Anthropology
Israeli fossil may recast history of first Europeans
New find suggests humans mated with Neandertals in Middle East before taking on Europe.
By Bruce Bower -
Neuroscience
Immune system may remember and adapt to stress
Mice without immune systems who receive stressed immune cells are less anxious and more social, suggesting that the immune system can adapt to stress.