Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Extra fingers, often seen as useless, can offer major dexterity advantages
Two people born with six fingers on each hand can control the extra digit, using it to do tasks better than five-fingered hands, a study finds.
- Health & Medicine
A tiny crater on viruses behind the common cold may be their Achilles’ heel
Researchers have discovered a potential new drug target in a family of viruses responsible for the common cold and more serious infections.
- Archaeology
These knotted cords may hide the first evidence that the Incas collected taxes
Some knotted string devices point to crop levies imposed by the Incan empire, researchers say. But other khipus continue to evade description.
- Health & Medicine
Medicaid-expanding states had fewer cardiovascular deaths than other states
Counties in states with expanded Medicaid eligibility had 4.3 fewer cardiovascular deaths per 100,000 residents, on average, than if they hadn’t expanded.
- Genetics
DNA reveals ancient Siberians who set the stage for the first Americans
A previously unknown population of Ice Age people who traveled across Beringia was discovered in Russia.
- Genetics
Almost all healthy people harbor patches of mutated cells
Even healthy tissues can build up mutations, some of which have been tied to cancer.
- Health & Medicine
Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C could prevent thousands of deaths in the U.S.
A study projecting heat-related mortality in 15 U.S. cities illustrates urban risk from global warming.
- Anthropology
Hominids may have been cutting-edge tool makers 2.6 million years ago
Contested finds point to a sharp shift in toolmaking by early members of the Homo genus.
- Life
Gut bacteria may change the way many drugs work in the body
A new survey of interactions between microbes and medications suggests that gut bacteria play a crucial role in how the body processes drugs.
- Archaeology
Cave debris may be the oldest known example of people eating starch
Charred material found in South Africa puts energy-rich roots and tubers on Stone Age menus, long before farming began.
- Health & Medicine
A fungus weaponized with a spider toxin can kill malaria mosquitoes
In controlled field experiments in Burkina Faso, a genetically engineered fungus reduced numbers of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes that can carry malaria.
- Anthropology
Africa’s first herders spread pastoralism by mating with foragers
DNA unveils long-ago hookups between early pastoralists and native hunter-gatherers in Africa.
