Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Puzzling cosmic signals, processed food defined and more reader feedback
Readers sort out a definition for processed food, discuss the benefits of tinkering with human DNA and more.
- Health & Medicine
Clot-snatching stroke treatment gets the green light
Snatching blood clots from the brain with a wire mesh stent is a new stroke treatment that is now supported in the United States.
- Health & Medicine
Genetic tweak turned plague bacterium deadly
Two genetic changes allowed plague bacteria to cause deadly lung infections and pandemic disease.
- Health & Medicine
E-cigarettes proving to be a danger to teens
E-cigarettes have surpassed cigarettes as the most commonly used tobacco product among teenagers. Medical researchers are sounding the alarm.
- Science & Society
No matter the language, disease risk is hard to communicate
Reassuring messages about MERS might seem designed to stop panic. But in reality, people need to hear the truth, even if it’s uncertain.
- Psychology
Music to just about everyone’s ears
Common elements of music worldwide point to its central role in group cohesion.
- Health & Medicine
Should you eat your baby’s placenta?
More women are choosing to eat their baby’s placenta after giving birth, but the evidence for benefits isn’t there yet.
- Plants
Poppy yields the final secret to making morphine
Scientists have successfully transplanted most of the morphine synthesis pathway from poppies to yeast. Now the final step is ready to be put in place.
- Health & Medicine
Switching off nerve cells eases asthma attacks
A drug that numbs nerve cells in mice’s airways offers a new way to ease the effects of an asthma attack.
- Health & Medicine
New cancer drugs wake up sleeping killer T cells
The immune system’s T cells, often evaded by tumors, might now resume the attack.
- Psychology
The guilty pleasure of funny cat videos
Many people love posting and looking at cute kitty content online. A new survey shows that this could be because it helps us manage our emotions.
- Health & Medicine
Spit test could provide early warning of head, neck cancers
A new study shows that signs of head and neck cancer can be detected in saliva and blood plasma even before tumors are clinically diagnosed.
