Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
What is the best exercise to improve sleep?
An analysis of 30 trials delivered a surprising twist: One exercise outperformed walking, resistance training and aerobic exercise in the treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia.
- Health & Medicine
Higher colon cancer rates may reflect earlier screening success
The recommended age for starting colorectal cancer screening is now 45. That shift may explain a rise in early cases.
- Health & Medicine
Some probiotics could feed, rather than fend off, infections
Probiotics containing Lactobacillus gasseri Lg-36 prevented C. difficile infections in mice, but L. acidophilus probiotics made infection more likely.
- Health & Medicine
Some U.S. newborns still get HIV despite efforts to screen for it. Here’s why
Routine tests in the third trimester may catch missed cases and flag the need for treatment that reduces a baby‘s risk of getting HIV to near zero.
- Health & Medicine
A molecule produced by gut microbes may help spur heart disease
A leftover from microbes’ meals is linked to early heart disease in people. In mice, it contributed to plaque buildup in the arteries.
- Health & Medicine
You may already have some protection from bird flu, but don’t count on it
Studies suggest that people who had seasonal flus or vaccinations have low antibody levels against H5N1 bird flu.
- Health & Medicine
Seeing sick faces may prime the immune system to repel invaders
Seeing sick-looking faces in virtual reality triggers brain circuit changes related to threat detection and boosts activity of certain immune cells.
- Archaeology
Maggots may have been on the Neandertal menu
Maggots on rotting meat may have given Neandertals’ a fatty, nitrogen-rich boost, a study of their bones suggests.
- Health & Medicine
AI is designing proteins that could help treat cancer
A team used generative AI to enhance T cells’ ability to fight melanoma. The immunotherapy approach needs more testing before use in cancer patients.
- Health & Medicine
An injected gel could make drugs like Ozempic last longer
GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and weight loss are difficult for some people to inject weekly. A new slow-release gel, tested in rats, could help.
- Health & Medicine
How many steps a day do you really need to take?
An analysis of 57 studies shows that people who walked a certain number of steps were less likely to die from any cause compared with those who walked less.
- Health & Medicine
Climate change may be pushing fungal allergy season earlier
Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns may be lengthening fungal allergy season, which starts 3 weeks earlier than it did two decades ago.
