SOUND SCIENCE Different ways of reviewing medical evidence serve different purposes, with no form necessarily superior, researchers argue in a recent paper.
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Magazine
In the April 14 SN: Killer heat, mass insect migrations, the latest Saturn updates, rethinking the Nobel Prize, tectonics on Venus, the science of mass shootings, ancient tool trends and more.
Humans & Society
Topic Image Rail
WOMEN IN SCIENCE Progress has been made on closing the gender gap in science-related fields, but it may be decades or even centuries before some disciplines have equal numbers of men and women, a new study suggests.
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HOLEY COW A section of bone missing from the right side of a more than 5,000-year-old cow skull (front and back views, shown) resulted from a surgical procedure, researchers say.
F. Ramirez Rozzi
Humans & Society
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Ancestry
News
Pacific islanders got a double whammy of Stone Age DNA
Neandertal and Denisovan genes influence the health of present-day Melanesians.News
Human DNA found in a Neandertal woman
Interbreeding between humans and Neandertals happened earlier than thought, leaving traces in the Neandertal genome. -
Anthropology
News in Brief
A hole in an ancient cow’s skull could have been surgery practice
Before performing skull operations on people, ancient surgeons may have rehearsed on cows.News
Finger fossil puts people in Arabia at least 86,000 years ago
A desert discovery suggests that Arabia was an ancient human destination. -
Archaeology
News
This ancient Maya city may have helped the Snake King dynasty spread
A rural hub in an ancient Maya state gets its due with some laser help.News
Dogs lived and died with humans 10,000 years ago in the Americas
Dogs unearthed at sites in Illinois were older than originally thought. -
Psychology
Feature
When it’s playtime, many kids prefer reality over fantasy
Given a choice between fantasy play and doing the things that adults do, children prefer reality-based tasks, studies suggest.ScicuriousWhether psychology research is improving depends on whom you ask
Psychologists are pessimistic about the state of their field but want to improve, a survey shows. But are new measures working? -
Science & Society
ContextInformed wisdom trumps rigid rules when it comes to medical evidence
Narrative reviews of medical evidence offer benefits that the supposedly superior systematic approach can’t.Science Visualized
Closing the gender gap in some science fields may take over 100 years
In some STEM fields, the gender gap won’t disappear for decades or even centuries, a new study suggests. -
Networks
Letters to the EditorReaders respond to terrorism's roots
Readers respond to the July 9, 2016, issue of Science News with questions on terrorism, dog evolution and more.News
Monitoring online groups offers insight into ISIS attacks
Targeting online groups may be key to limiting the digital reach of ISIS. -
Language
News
Oldest alphabet identified as Hebrew
Contested study indicates ancient Israelites developed first alphabet from Egyptian hieroglyphics.ContextTom Wolfe’s denial of language evolution stumbles over his own words
Tom Wolfe’s book denies that language evolved and attacks Darwin and Chomsky with smugness lacking substance. -
History of Science
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Human Evolution
Year in Review
The story of humans’ origins got a revision in 2017
Human evolution may have involved the gradual assembly of scattered skeletal traits, fossils of Homo naledi and other species show.News
Homo naledi’s brain shows humanlike features
South African Homo species had small but humanlike brain, scientists say.
