Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
What goes wrong when talks break down
A nonlinear analysis explains how negotiations often turn on seemingly insignificant details.
- Humans
Pots bear oldest signs of cheese making
Some of Europe’s first farmers created perforated vessels to separate curds from whey.
- Health & Medicine
Brain stimulation alters depressive symptoms in mice
The findings may point the way toward more targeted treatments for depression in people.
- Humans
Lines in the sand may have been made for walking
The ancient Nazca culture’s celebrated desert drawings include a labyrinth meant to be strolled, not seen.
- Health & Medicine
Drug breaks up Alzheimer’s-like deposits in mice
Recent failed trials of a similar approach in humans fuel skepticism that patients will benefit.
- Humans
This snowbird is really going SOUTH
Many people of a certain age (like my folks) enjoy flying south to warmer climes when winter weather threatens. I’m also flying south this December — but not to warm up. As a guest of the National Science Foundation, I’ll be checking out summer in the really deep South: Antarctica. Temps expected at certain sites I’m scheduled to visit, such as the South Pole, threaten to surpass the worst that my hometown will encounter in the dead of winter.
- Health & Medicine
Smoking hurts teen girls’ bones
Adolescents who use cigarettes seem to accumulate less bone mineral than those who don’t.
- Life
Gut bacteria may affect cardiovascular risk
An abundance of antioxidant-producing microbes seems to keep plaques from breaking free and causing heart attacks and stroke.
- Humans
Help Wanted: Must play well with high-powered coworkers
Leisure activities make or break job applicants at major banking, legal and consulting outfits.
- Health & Medicine
Simulated brain mimics human quirks
Model representing 2.5 million neurons performs calculations, issues instructions for a behavior, and then expands its decision into action.
- Humans
Genetic diversity exploded in recent millennia
Among hundreds of thousands of DNA variants identified in a study, a large majority arose in the past 5,000 years.
- Health & Medicine
Auditory test predicts coma awakening
While all patients in a new study could discriminate between sounds early on, those whose ability improved during the first 48 hours wound up recovering.
