Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Aging: Nature’s way of reducing competition for resources
Aging may have developed in many species as a genetic mechanism to conserve future resources. If the controversial proposal is true, then scientists may be able to greatly extend life span by deactivating the machinery for aging embedded in our DNA.
- Health & Medicine
Unlike moms, dads tend not to coo in squeaky voices
American English-speaking moms dial up their pitch drastically when talking to their children, but dads’ voices tend to stay steady, a new study finds.
- Life
A protein variant can provide protection from deadly brain-wasting
If cannibalism hadn’t stopped, a protective protein may have ended kuru anyway.
- Anthropology
Modern-day trackers reinterpret Stone Age cave footprints
African trackers help researchers interpret ancient human footprints in French caves.
- Anthropology
Human laugh lines traced back to ape ancestors
Chimps make laughing faces that speak to evolution of human ha-ha’s.
- Archaeology
Bronze Age humans racked up travel miles
A new study indicates long journeys and unexpected genetic links in Bronze Age Eurasian cultures.
- Health & Medicine
Rotavirus vaccine is proving its worth
Rotavirus vaccination cuts childhood intestinal infection hospitalizations in half.
- Life
MERS virus didn’t morph in its move to South Korea
No obvious changes in the MERS virus account for its rapid spread in South Korea.
- Life
Tracing molecules’ movement in nails may help fight fungus
Tracking chemicals through the human nail may provide valuable insight for drug development.
- Health & Medicine
Fly spit protein holds back parasite infection in monkeys
A protein called PdS15 found in the saliva of the sand fly that spreads leishmaniasis may be used in a vaccine to combat the parasitic scourge causing the illness.
- Health & Medicine
Deadly MERS spreads in small cluster in South Korea
Thirty people have MERS virus in the South Korean outbreak, including China’s first case.
- Health & Medicine
An antidepressant may protect against Ebola
Zoloft and a heart drug keep most mice alive after exposure to Ebola.
