Humans

  1. Genetics

    Genetic data rewrite the prehistory of Europe

    The genomes of nine ancient and 2,345 living humans have changed the story of modern Europeans' origins.

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  2. Earth

    Shrinking ancient sea may have spawned Sahara Desert

    The Saharan Desert probably formed 7 million years ago as the ancient Tethys Sea, the forerunner of the Mediterranean Sea, shrank.

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  3. Anthropology

    Strategy, not habitat loss, leads chimps to kill rivals

    Human impacts on chimpanzees have not increased their violence.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Rounder waists show obesity continues to rise

    The waistlines of U.S. adults continue to expand, running counter to a report that obesity, based on body mass index, did not increase substantially in the past decade.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Sleep drunkenness might be common

    A new survey shows that about 15 percent of people sometimes wake up disoriented and confused, a condition called sleep drunkenness.

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  6. Psychology

    Training the overweight brain to abstain

    A new study shows that brain changes are associated with a weight-loss behavioral intervention, but it may be a while before we can train our brains to prefer peppers over pork chops.

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  7. Agriculture

    Drug-resistant staph can cling to farm workers for days

    Agricultural exposure to staph bacteria could threaten the health of laborers and people who live near farms, a study of pig farm workers suggests.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Mass EKG screening for athletes inadvisable, panel says

    Only athletes with warning signs of cardiac problems should be tested with electrocardiograms, according to the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology.

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  9. Psychology

    In PTSD, a good night’s sleep means feeling safe

    Studies of PTSD in rats have usually focused on fear and trauma. But a new study in humans shows that learning about safety may be important as well.

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  10. Psychology

    People see own good but gossip about others’ misdeeds

    Daily cellphone surveys probe the gap between the focus on personal virtue and negative chatter.

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  11. Life

    Vagina bacteria make molecules that could be drugs

    Microbes on the human body are capable of producing thousands of small molecules that hold potential as drugs.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Experimental herpes drug outperforms first-line med

    An experimental treatment for genital herpes suppresses the viral infection better than the standard drug, but animal tests raise concerns about side effects.

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