Humans

Sign up for our newsletter

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Prosthetics that feel

    Re-creating a 'sense of touch' for prosthetic limbs may someday improve how people use them.

    By
  2. Humans

    Hints of earlier human exit from Africa

    New finds suggest surprisingly early migrations by Homo sapiens out of Africa through an oasis-studded Arabia.

    By
  3. Tech

    Pint-sized Princess Leia nearer reality

    Faster but fuzzier holographic 3-D teleconferencing debuts.

    By
  4. Humans

    Intel Science Talent Search picks top 40

    High school researchers to present original work in Washington, D.C.

    By
  5. Health & Medicine

    Mass vaccination could slow cholera

    Immunizing people at the outset of an outbreak would limit the number of cases and deaths, an analysis finds.

    By
  6. Health & Medicine

    U.S. lags in life expectancy gains

    Among developed countries, Americans spend the most on health care even as they fall behind in extending longevity, a new study finds.

    By
  7. Health & Medicine

    Sleep makes the memory

    Napping while reliving memories stabilizes people’s ability to recall them later.

    By
  8. Psychology

    Stage set early for success, or failure

    Youngsters who lack self-control tend to hurtle toward a harsh rendezvous with adulthood.

    By
  9. Psychology

    Kids’ friendships sometimes illusory

    A substantial minority of third to sixth graders think they're tight with a classmate who actually dislikes them.

    By
  10. Health & Medicine

    Vaccine against cocaine makes headway

    Injections gin up antibodies in mice that limit the drug's effects, a new study shows.

    By
  11. Humans

    Citation-amnesia paper published

    Many biomedical researchers fail to put their findings into context by citing related, previously published work. I termed this citation amnesia, when I wrote about it 18 months ago, based on data presented at a meeting on peer review and publishing. Readers who seek more details than my initial blog provided can now pore over the stats from that research for themselves. The Johns Hopkins University team that I encountered at the Vancouver meeting has now formally published its analysis.

    By
  12. Health & Medicine

    Tallying the caloric cost of an all-nighter

    Sleep is energy-saving, and missing even one night sends the body into conservation mode, new measurements show.

    By