Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Anthropology
Footprints offer clues about daily hominid life
Early male members of the human genus spent a lot of time together by the water, as their footprints attest.
- Health & Medicine
A more accurate prenatal test to predict Down syndrome
A test to detect genetic problems such as Down syndrome examines a baby’s DNA in the mother’s blood and may limit the need for more invasive screening.
- Anthropology
Kennewick Man’s bones reveal his diet
Pacific Northwest man who lived 9,000 years ago ate from an almost entirely seafood menu, a new analysis finds.
- Health & Medicine
Injured baby hearts may be coaxed to regenerate
Shots of a growth factor protein reduce cell death in infant mice with heart damage.
- Health & Medicine
Older moms may have options to reduce newborns’ risks
Although babies born to older mothers face a higher danger of congenital heart defects, exercising moms may offset this added risk, a study in mice shows.
- Tech
Exoskeleton boot makes for more efficient walking
Newly developed exoskeleton boots that are unpowered are showing scientists that it is still possible to make walking even more efficient for humans.
- Anthropology
‘Little Foot’ pushes back age of earliest South African hominids
Study suggests Lucy’s species had a South African foil nearly 3.7 million years ago.
- Anthropology
Ancient hominids moved into Greece about 206,000 years ago
New analysis puts people at a contested Greek site about 206,000 years ago.
- Microbes
Some superbugs lurk in Britain’s surf
In Great Britain’s coastal waters, surfers and swimmers are exposed to low levels of drug-resistant E. coli, a new study finds.
- Humans
Egg-meet-sperm moments are equal opportunities for girls and boys
Despite previous claims, equal numbers of male and female embryos are conceived, new data suggest.
- Health & Medicine
Performance gains from Tommy John surgery still up for debate
Major league baseball pitchers who undergo two Tommy John surgeries have shorter careers than peers who don’t have the surgery, a new study finds.
- Science & Society
White House unveils strategy against antibiotic resistance
The Obama Administration has launched a long-term plan to curb antibiotic resistance, unveiling incentives and requirements designed to boost surveillance and diagnosis of resistant microbes.
