Humans
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Psychology
Thirtysomethings flex their number sense
A mental feel for estimating amounts maxes out later in life and may influence math achievement.
By Bruce Bower -
Health & Medicine
Testosterone therapy takes off pounds
A five-year study shows that men getting the hormone consistently lose weight.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & Medicine
Learn to play piano in your sleep
That’s still impossible, but an experiment suggests hearing a previously learned ditty while snoozing improves later performance of the piece.
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Humans
De-papering environmental summits
One token — but highly visible — gesture toward sustainability at the UN's 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio was a request for all attendees to shrink their paper footprints. Apparently, most complied.
By Janet Raloff -
Humans
Ancient North Africans got milk
Pottery study unveils early dairy practices among Saharan cattle herders.
By Bruce Bower -
Humans
What’s in your wallet? Another ‘estrogen’
A chemical cousin of bisphenol A, a hormone mimic, has turned up on banknotes from around the world in addition to tainting 14 other types of papery products. Owing to the near ubiquity of BPS in paper, human exposure is likely also “ubiquitous,” conclude the study's authors. Oh, and a second new study shows that BPS behaves like an estrogen.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
More adults put off kids’ vaccinations
Scientists say the practice has no proven value and poses risks of infection.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & Medicine
Like a prion, Alzheimer’s protein seeds itself in the brain
Injecting amyloid-beta into mice may induce misfolding of native amyloid-beta molecules, leading to the buildup associated with the neuron-killing disease.
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Tech
The descent of music
Using an evolutionary process, researchers create pleasing tunes out of grating noise.
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Humans
Color this chimp amazing
An extra layer of sensory perception called synesthesia might help ape make a monkey of humans on memory tests.