Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Quarrying stone for Easter Island statues made soil more fertile for farming
Easter Island’s Polynesian society grew crops in soil made especially fertile by the quarrying of rock for large, humanlike statues, a study suggests.
- Science & Society
Bias in a common health care algorithm disproportionately hurts black patients
A machine-learning program that uses past medical costs to identify patients for extra care favors white patients over black patients, a study finds.
- Neuroscience
Lab-grown organoids are more stressed-out than actual brain cells
Compared with real brain tissue, organoids show big differences.
- Health & Medicine
Algae inside blood vessels could act as oxygen factories
Two types of light-responsive algae make oxygen inside tadpoles’ blood vessels.
- Health & Medicine
Prozac proves no better than a placebo in treating kids with autism
In a small clinical trial, drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors didn’t ease obsessive-compulsive symptoms in children with autism.
- Neuroscience
Alzheimer’s may scramble metabolism’s connection to sleep
Mice designed to have brain changes that mimic Alzheimer’s disease have altered reactions to blood sugar changes.
- Animals
New books explore why dogs and humans have such a special bond
‘Dog Is Love’ and ‘Our Dogs, Ourselves’ delve into the complicated, sometimes contradictory relationship that we have with our canine companions.
- Health & Medicine
These tiny aquatic animals secrete a compound that may help fight snail fever
A newly identified molecule from rotifers paralyzes the larvae of worms that cause schistosomiasis, which affects over 200 million people worldwide.
- Neuroscience
Organoids offer clues to how brains are made in humans and chimpanzees
Three-dimensional clumps of brain cells offer clues about how brains get made in humans and chimpanzees.
- Health & Medicine
A precision drug for prostate cancer may slow the disease’s spread
The drug olaparib could be used to treat men with certain genetic mutations and severe types of prostate cancer, a clinical trial finds.
- Health & Medicine
Nearly 1,300 injuries and 29 deaths in the U.S. have been tied to vaping
As the investigation continues, health officials expect multiple causes will be behind the ever-growing number of vaping-related lung injuries.
- Archaeology
Ancient European households combined the rich and poor
Homes combined “haves” and “have-nots” in a male-run system, suggests a study that challenges traditional views of ancient social stratification.
