Humans
-
Science & Society
How our SN 10 scientists have responded to tumultuous times
COVID-19, social justice movements and the realities of climate change have given our Scientists to Watch new perspective.
-
Chemistry
Radiometric dating puts pieces of the past in context. Here’s how
Carbon dating and other techniques answer essential questions about human history, our planet and the solar system.
By Sid Perkins -
Health & Medicine
A custom brain implant lifted a woman’s severe depression
An experimental device interrupts brain activity linked to a woman’s low mood. The technology, she said, has changed her lens on life.
-
Health & Medicine
Discovering how we sense temperature and touch wins the 2021 medicine Nobel Prize
Finding sensors on nerve cells that detect temperature and pressure nets California scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian a Nobel Prize.
By Tina Hesman Saey and Freda Kreier -
Health & Medicine
A new antiviral pill cuts COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates
Merck says its drug, molnupiravir, stops viral replication and can be taken right after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
-
Anthropology
50 years ago, X-rays revealed what ancient Egyptians kept under wraps
In the 1970s, scientists used X-rays to unravel mummy secrets. Now, advances in technology are providing unprecedented views of ancient Egyptians.
By Bruce Bower -
Neuroscience
A blood test may help predict recovery from traumatic brain injury
High levels of a key blood protein point to brain shrinkage and damage to message-sending axons, providing a biomarker for TBI severity and prognosis.
-
Genetics
All identical twins may share a common set of chemical markers on their DNA
Identical twins may share a set of unique chemical tags on their DNA that could be used to identify individuals who were conceived as identical twins.
-
Health & Medicine
50 years ago, scientists found a link between aspirin use and pregnancy complications
Scientists are still learning about the risks and benefits of taking aspirin at each stage of pregnancy.
-
Anthropology
‘Ghost tracks’ suggest people came to the Americas earlier than once thought
Prehistoric people’s footprints show that humans were in North America during the height of the last ice age, researchers say.
By Freda Kreier -
Genetics
DNA offers a new look at how Polynesia was settled
Modern genetic evidence suggests that statue builders on islands such as Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, had a shared ancestry.
By Bruce Bower -
Health & Medicine
Why only some people will get COVID-19 booster shots at first
In the United States, boosters may next go to people 65 and older, those at high risk for severe disease and people whose jobs put them at high exposure risk.