Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Archaeology
Precolonial farmers thrived in one of North America’s coldest places
Ancestral Menominee people in what’s now Michigan’s Upper Peninsula grew maize and other crops on large tracts of land despite harsh conditions.
- Health & Medicine
A diet full of tiny plastics triggered health problems in mice
Mice exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics developed problems in their guts and livers. It’s not yet clear if humans are similarly affected.
- Health & Medicine
U.S. moms say their mental health is getting worse
A national survey finds that mothers of children ages 0 to 17 years report mental health declines from 2016 to 2023.
- Chemistry
Lotions and perfumes affect the air near our skin
The personal care products suppress reactions between skin oils and ozone. It's not clear how, or if, this chemistry change might impact human health.
- Anthropology
Males of this ancient human cousin weren’t always bigger than females
Molecular evidence from a 2-million-year-old southern African hominid species indicates sex and genetic differences in P. robustus.
- Science & Society
Students’ mental health imperiled by $1 billion cuts to school funding
The Trump administration is cutting $1 billion in grants that support student mental health. That has educators worried.
- Health & Medicine
Personalized gene editing saved a baby, but the tech’s future is uncertain
The personalized CRISPR treatment could be the future of gene therapy, but hurdles remain before everyone has access.
- Anthropology
Humans used whale bones to make tools 20,000 years ago
Ancient scavengers of the beached beasts turned their bones into implements that spread across a large area, researchers say.
- Health & Medicine
Wet fingers always wrinkle in the same way
Pruney fingertips aren't swollen sponges — the wrinkles actually come from blood vessels constricting and pulling skin inward.
- Health & Medicine
It’s tricky to transplant a bladder. How surgeons finally did it
The person who received the bladder is doing well, and the successful transplant could offer hope to thousands of people with bladder dysfunction.
- Health & Medicine
Don’t wait until menopause to strengthen your bones
Screening for osteoporosis is recommended at age 65, but experts say women should be proactive about bone health long before that.
- Health & Medicine
FDA significantly limits access to COVID-19 vaccines
The new framework unveiled May 20 says new COVID-19 shots should go only to those ages 65 and up or with underlying medical conditions.
