Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Genetics of human evolution wins 2022 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine
By figuring out how to extract DNA from ancient bones, Svante Pääbo was able to decipher the genomes of our hominid relatives.
- Humans
How to get a crying baby to sleep, according to science
Science has come up with a recipe for lulling a crying baby to sleep: Carry them for five minutes, sit for at least five more and then lay them down.
- Health & Medicine
Christopher Barnes is on a quest for a universal coronavirus vaccine
Christopher Barnes wants to stop the viruses that cause COVID-19, the common cold and more.
- Science & Society
Big questions inspire the scientists on this year’s SN 10 list
These scientists to watch study climate change, alien worlds, human evolution, the coronavirus and more.
- Neuroscience
Emily Jacobs wants to know how sex hormones sculpt the brain
Emily Jacobs studies how the brain changes throughout women’s reproductive years, plus what it all means for health.
- Anthropology
Tina Lasisi wants to untangle the evolution of human hair
Tina Lasisi is pioneering studies of human variation in an ethical and scientifically sound way.
- Health & Medicine
Smruthi Karthikeyan turned to wastewater to get ahead of COVID-19
Smruthi Karthikeyan’s system for tracking the coronavirus gives lifesaving public health measures a head start.
- Psychology
The pandemic may be stunting young adults’ personality development
People typically become less neurotic and more agreeable with age. The COVID-19 pandemic may have reversed those trends in adults younger than 30.
- Health & Medicine
This robotic pill clears mucus from the gut to deliver meds
A whirling robotic pill wicks mucus from the gut, allowing intravenous drugs such as insulin to be given orally, experiments in pigs suggest.
- Health & Medicine
False teeth could double as hearing aids
Dental implants can conduct sound through jawbone, making them candidates for discreet, high-quality hearing aids, researchers say.
- Anthropology
In Maya society, cacao use was for everyone, not just royals
Previously considered a preserve of Maya elites, cacao was consumed across all social strata, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
This face mask can sense the presence of an airborne virus
Within minutes of exposure, a sensor in a mask prototype can detect proteins from viruses that cause COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.
