Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Psychology

    Rip-off victims prefer compensation to retribution

    But those acting on behalf of victims favor a punishment that fits the crime.

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  2. Neuroscience

    A species of invention

    From early humans painting on cave walls to modern-day engineers devising ways to help people move better, the drive to innovate is simply part of who humans are.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Mini stomachs grown in lab

    Clumps of human gastric cells could help researchers study stomach diseases.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Heavy milk drinking may double women’s mortality rates

    In a study of 60,000 Swedes, drinking three or more classes of milk a day was associated with higher chances of death, cancer and hip fractures.

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  5. Humans

    Human ancestor Lucy celebrates 40th anniversary

    Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson recalls the discovery 40 years ago of the human ancestor known as Lucy.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Harmless bacterium edges out intestinal germ

    Researchers treated C. difficile infections in mice with a closely related bacteria that blocks C. difficile growth.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Daylight savings time tied to more exercise in children

    Kids in Europe and Australia are slightly more active in longer-lit evenings, a new study shows.

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  8. Archaeology

    Ice Age hunter-gatherers lived at extreme altitudes

    Two archaeological sites in the Andes indicate that hunter-gatherers inhabited extreme altitudes earlier than previously thought.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Cocoa antioxidants boost the aging brain

    High doses of cocoa flavanols can improve some types of brain function in older individuals, a new study shows.

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  10. Genetics

    Men who lose Y chromosome have high risk of cancer

    Losing the Y chromosome in blood cells may bring on cancer and shorten men’s lives.

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  11. Genetics

    Easter Islanders sailed to Americas, DNA suggests

    Genetic ties among present-day populations point to sea crossings centuries before European contact with Easter Island.

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  12. Humans

    Oldest human DNA narrows time of Neandertal hookups

    A 45,000-year-old Siberian bone provides genetic clues about the timing of interbreeding between ancient humans and Neandertals.

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