Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    If timing’s right, cats and roaches may be good for kids’ allergies

    Exposure to mice, roaches and cats before a child’s first birthday may confer protection against asthma and allergies, a new study suggests.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Number of skin moles tied to breast cancer risk

    Women who have many moles also have increased disease risk, which may reflect higher estrogen levels.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Bacteria linked to stress-induced heart attacks

    Bacteria may play an underlying role in heart attacks brought on by stress.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Anesthesia linked to effects on children’s memory

    Undergoing anesthesia as an infant may impair a person's ability to recall details later in life, a new study suggests.

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  5. Humans

    There’s more to acing interviews than holding the vocal fry

    A new study of vocal fry, a low razz in human speech, suggests job interviewees might want to hold the fry. But there's more to a job interview than a little vocal sizzle.

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  6. Neuroscience

    Stem cell approach for Parkinson’s disease gets boost

    Postmortem study finds Parkinson’s patients can retain transplanted neurons for years.

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  7. Psychology

    Why stabbing a voodoo doll is so satisfying

    To measure how aggressive a person is, psychologists turn to voodoo dolls and hot sauce.

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  8. Neuroscience

    Sleep strengthens some synapses

    Mice show signs of stronger neuron connections when allowed to sleep after learning a trick.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Your baby: The ultimate science experiment

    Babies may be serious scientists, but parents can join the fun by trying some simple experiments with their kids.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Early malnutrition may impair infants’ mix of gut microbes

    Babies’ gut microbiomes fail to fully recover even after fending off bouts with malnutrition.

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  11. Neuroscience

    Stress and the susceptible brain

    Some of us bounce back from stress, while others never really recover. A new study shows that different brain activity patterns could make the difference.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Health risks of e-cigarettes emerge

    Research uncovers a growing list of chemicals that end up in an e-cigarette user’s lungs, and one study finds that an e-cigarette’s vapors can increase the virulence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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