Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Half-asleep rats look wide awake
In a discovery with ominous implications for sleep deprivation, researchers find that some brain regions can doze off while an animal remains active.
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- Psychology
Why some gorillas go unseen
Attention differences help to explain why some people don't notice surprising sights.
- Humans
Because some foods carry organophosphate residues
Three new papers link prenatal exposures to organophosphate (OP) pesticides with diminished IQs in children. Fruits and veggies are one continuing source of exposure to these bug killers. As to what we’re supposed to do with that knowledge — well, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, offers some guidance.
- Chemistry
Pesticides tied to lower IQ in children
Chemicals once sprayed in homes — and still used on farms — were found to have significant effects in three studies.
- Health & Medicine
Flies on meth burn through sugar
Cellular effects may explain why addicts often have a sweet tooth.
- Health & Medicine
Mucus-related gene tied to lung disease
People with pulmonary fibrosis are much more likely to make excess amounts of a normally beneficial protein, a study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Experimental Biology 2011 conference
Even larvae can love the blues, plus distemper’s roots, fat-busting blueberries and more meeting news.
- Life
Gut bacteria come in three flavors
Everybody has one of a trio of types — and which one seems to be less important than how the bugs behave.
- Humans
Killing fields of ancient Syria revealed
Stone corrals were used to trap whole herds of animals for mass slaughter.
- Anthropology
American Association of Physical Anthropologists
Hobbit dentistry, ancient footprints and navigating gibbons in news from the recent physical anthropology meeting.
