Humans
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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- Health & Medicine
Tetris players are not block heads
Playing the geometry-based computer game can boost the brain’s gray matter.
- Chemistry
New bond in the basement
Scientists identify a sulfur-nitrogen link, never before seen in living things, critical to holding the body together.
- Humans
Medicare changes threaten access to radiation therapy
Oncologists worry that proposed Medicare cuts could result in dramatically reduced access to radiation therapy, even for non-Medicare patients.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Mice with mutation feel the burn
Instead of becoming obese, mice with a mutation in an immune gene burn off the fat they eat.
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- Archaeology
Europe’s oldest stone hand axes emerge in Spain
Researchers report identifying Europe’s oldest stone hand axes at Spanish sites dating to 900,000 and 760,000 years ago.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Play that monkey music
Man-made music inspired by tamarin calls seems to alter the primates’ emotions, a new study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Obesity surgery’s benefits extend to next generation
Children born to women who have undergone weight-loss surgery are healthier than children born to moms who are severely obese, a study shows.
By Nathan Seppa - Earth
Sun is setting on incandescent era
After more than a century, Edison's light bulbs stand poised to go extinct.
By Janet Raloff - Earth
Cash for clunkers II: Appliances
States could soon roll out programs that help consumers replace energy hogging home appliances.
By Janet Raloff - Psychology
Morality Play
Universal concerns, not cultural values, may shape kids’ developing notions of right and wrong.
By Bruce Bower