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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Psychology

    Beatles reaction puzzles even psychologists

    From the February 29, 1964, issue: Psychologists are as puzzled as parents over the explosive effect the Beatles are having on American teen-agers.

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  2. Environment

    Legionnaires’ disease bacteria lurk in tap water

    Found in nearly half of faucets, contamination could explain sporadic cases of disease.

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  3. Science & Society

    Alternatives needed to do-it-yourself feces swaps

    Three researchers are calling for the FDA to regulate feces as a human tissue rather than a drug to make it easier for doctors to perform fecal transplants.

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  4. Archaeology

    Fire used regularly for cooking for 300,000 years

    Israeli cave yields a fireplace where Stone Age crowd may have cooked up social change.

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  5. Psychology

    Lend an ear to science

    Pop music hit maker Clive Davis knows a catchy song when he hears one. Now an app aims to define that elusive quality more concretely.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Mesh best for hernia repair

    Data from nine studies show fewer recurrences than fixes with sutures only.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Highlights from the International Stroke Conference

    Clotting risk after pregnancy, driving after a stroke and more presented February 12-14 in San Diego.

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  8. Psychology

    Stress hormone rise linked to less risky financial decisions

    People given cortisol chose safer options, suggesting inherent risk aversion as an overlooked variable in financial crises.

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  9. Neuroscience

    White matter scaffold offers new view of the brain

    A new neural map of white matter connections may explain why some injuries are worse than others.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Project to collect 100,000 people’s medical data

    Tracking microbiomes, blood tests and more over decades could provide individual health recommendations.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Cocaine use appears to boost stroke risk in young people

    A study of young and middle-aged adults adds to evidence of the drug’s harmful effects.

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  12. Neuroscience

    Gene adds wrinkle to brain development

    Mutations in the gene GPR56 results in misshapen folds in the brain tied to intellectual and language disabilities.

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