Humans
- Genetics
A story about why people get fat may be just that
In this issue, reporters look at efforts to find the genes that could be responsible for the obesity crisis and how evolution acts on diseases such as Ebola and tuberculosis.
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- Psychology
Simple rules can ease complex financial decisions
Straightforward strategies, known as heuristics, can be indispensable tools for keeping credit card debt in check as well as for making complex business decisions.
- Genetics
Ancient famine-fighting genes can’t explain obesity
Scientists question the long-standing notion that adaptation — specifically the evolution of genes that encourage humans to hold on to fat so they can survive times of famine — has driven the obesity crisis.
- Neuroscience
Children’s brains shaped by music training
After two years of an enrichment program, children’s brains showed more sophisticated response to spoken syllables.
- Health & Medicine
Trial drug improves heart failure patients’ chance of survival
Novartis’ experimental therapy LCZ696 lowers blood pressure and increases survival rates when compared with a standard drug.
- Health & Medicine
A hungry brain slurps up a kid’s energy
Compared with other animals, human children take their time growing up. A new study suggests that’s because kids’ brains burn a lot of energy, perhaps diverting resources from their growing bodies.
- Health & Medicine
Removing both breasts may not boost cancer survival
Women diagnosed with cancer in one breast who choose to have both breasts removed may not have better survival rates than women who opt for breast-conserving surgery and radiation.
- Health & Medicine
Rabies races up nerve cells
By hijacking a transporter protein and hitting the gas, the disease-causing rabies virus races up long nerve cells that stretch through the body, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Tiny mites are probably crawling all over your face
Two skin mites, relatives of spiders, might populate the faces of all adult humans, according to a DNA survey.
- Life
ZMapp drug fully protects monkeys against Ebola virus
In a test, 18 monkeys injected with the Ebola virus and treated with an experimental drug called ZMapp survived.
- Health & Medicine
Babies may be good at remembering, and forgetting
Studies in kids suggest that young children can form memories but can’t recall them later, offering new clues to how memory-storing systems form in young brains.
