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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Anthropology

    Ice Age hunters’ leftovers may have fueled dog domestication

    Ancient people tamed wolves by feeding them surplus game, researchers suggest.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are extremely rare, CDC says

    Out of the first 1.9 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine given in the United States, there were 21 reported cases of anaphylaxis, a CDC study finds.

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  3. Genetics

    Plague may have caused die-offs of ancient Siberians

    DNA suggests that the deadly bacterium that causes the plague reached northeast Asia by 4,400 years ago.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Against all odds, 2020 featured some good health news

    Good health news in 2020 included a first treatment for peanut allergies, a rare self-cure for HIV, and an Ebola outbreak ends.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    The new U.K. coronavirus variant is concerning. But don’t freak out

    A new version of the coronavirus may be better at spreading from person to person, but there’s still a lot scientists don’t know.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    How does the newly authorized Moderna COVID-19 vaccine compare to Pfizer’s?

    The FDA has granted emergency use authorization to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the number of vaccines available in the United States to two.

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  7. Animals

    Bonobos, much like humans, show commitment to completing a joint task

    Experiments with bonobos suggest that humans aren’t the only ones who can feel a sense of mutual responsibility toward other members of their species.

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  8. Science & Society

    What will life be like after the coronavirus pandemic ends?

    Researchers offer a range of perspectives on the possible long-term social consequences of COVID-19.

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  9. Archaeology

    Ivory from a 16th century shipwreck reveals new details about African elephants

    Ivory from the sunken Portuguese trading ship Bom Jesus contains clues about elephant herds that once roamed Africa, and the people who hunted them.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, urea showed promise as a sickle-cell treatment

    In 1970, scientists found the first treatment for sickle-cell disease. 50 years later, they’re trying to cure it with CRISPR.

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  11. Animals

    A mink in Utah is the first known case of the coronavirus in a wild animal

    A U.S. mink is so far the only known free-ranging animal to have contracted the coronavirus and likely got infected from a nearby mink farm.

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  12. Science & Society

    These 6 graphs show that Black scientists are underrepresented at every level

    In the U.S., Black people are underrepresented in STEM fields, both as students and in the workforce.

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