Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Humans

    Bear deadline

    Court calls for the already overdue decision on listing polar bears as a threatened species.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Let there be light

    Researchers report restoring vision to people with a rare, genetic form of blindness. A different technique helped blind mice see again and could bring back some sight in people with macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or other blinding diseases.

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  3. Psychology

    Smarten up

    Taxing memory training produces at least short-term increases in a critical type of intelligence.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Tripping up avian flu

    Developing an effective vaccine for avian flu has been difficult, but small rings of DNA that hinder virus replication could offer an alternative.

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  5. Ecosystems

    Building Homes Where the Buffalo Roamed

    A new study finds that being environmentally conscious is no guarantee you’ll put your home where you mouth is.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    BOOK REVIEW | A Portrait of the Brain

    Review by Tina Hesman Saey.

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  7. Humans

    The Return of EPA’s Libraries

    After mothballing five libraries as a purported cost-cutting gesture, the agency is now responding to congressional prodding and unboxing its books.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Pockets of poor health

    Life expectancy decreases in some locations

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  9. Health & Medicine

    New approach might strike at the core of Alzheimer’s disease

    By finding a way to stick an enzyme-inhibiting molecule to the membrane of a cell, scientists may have devised the framework for an Alzheimer’s drug.

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  10. Humans

    Incan skull surgery

    Incan healers became highly adept at skull surgery techniques that developed over thousands of years in ancient Peru.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Old drug offers new tricks for fighting cancer

    A drug once envisioned as a treatment for cancer might instead prevent the occurrence of colorectal cancer.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Triggering autoimmune assaults

    Mouth bacteria unleash inflammation-inducing protein

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