Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Anthropology
Earlier dates for Neandertal extinction cause a fuss
Revised dates suggest Neandertals coexisted with modern humans for several thousand years in Europe before disappearing 40,000 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Study puts numbers to post-baby sleepiness
Many moms aren’t getting good sleep months after giving birth, reports a new study and every mother ever.
- Health & Medicine
Taking lab mice back to their roots
Lab mice are incredibly useful for biomedical research. But they are also incredibly inbred. A new study shows that bringing wild mouse traits back could help uncover new links between genes and behavior.
- Health & Medicine
Evidence-based medicine actually isn’t
Demands for evidence-based medicine confront the contradiction that much of the evidence is worthless or skewed.
- Health & Medicine
HPV vaccine protection lasts at least eight years
Immunization shields children from human papillomavirus infection for nearly a decade.
- Anthropology
Origins of Egyptian mummy making may predate pyramids
Preservative mixture for mummy wrapping found on linens that covered the dead as early as 6,300 years ago.
- Environment
Fetuses may be exposed to antimicrobial compounds
Health risks remain uncertain as scientists find common soap chemicals in pregnant women and cord blood.
- Health & Medicine
Clearing up anatomy with a see-through mouse
A new method begins with a mouse or rat and ends with a transparent body, where details can be visualized all the way to the DNA. Here’s how it works.
- Humans
Antibiotics in infancy may cause obesity in adults
By altering the microbiome of infant mice, drugs predisposed the animals to gain fat as adults.
- Health & Medicine
Inflammation-blocking cells might fight often-fatal sepsis
Treatment saved young and old mice from overactive immune response to infection.
- Health & Medicine
Data deluge feeds paranoia parenting
There are several gadgets and devices you can buy that will feed you reams of data about your baby. But it’s not always clear how that data translate into useful information.
- Health & Medicine
Elderly benefit from high-dose flu shot
High-dose vaccine may offer people age 65 and older improved protection against the flu.
