Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Engraved bones reveal that symbolism had ancient roots in East Asia
Denisovans might have etched line patterns on two animal bone fragments more than 100,000 years ago in what’s now northern China.
- Health & Medicine
Two of four Ebola treatments prove highly effective in a clinical trial
An Ebola field trial is shifting its focus toward two treatments that have been shown to be highly effective at preventing death in Congo, according to preliminary data.
- Humans
Even without concussions, just one football season may damage players’ brains
A group of college football players underwent brain scans after a season of play. The results suggest the sport could impact neural signaling.
- Humans
Are researchers asking the right questions to prevent mass shootings?
Understanding how to thwart these violent events may be more effective than analyzing perpetrators’ backgrounds.
- Life
Why people with celiac disease suffer so soon after eating gluten
In people with celiac disease, some T cells release immune chemicals within hours of encountering gluten, triggering the fast onset of symptoms.
- Health & Medicine
How pieces of live human brain are helping scientists map nerve cells
Experiments on live nerve cells — donated from patients undergoing brain surgery — may turn up clues about how the human brain works.
- Health & Medicine
Racist words and acts, like the El Paso shooting, harm children’s health
Racism can take a lifelong toll on children’s and adolescents’ health. U.S. pediatricians are tackling the problem.
- Anthropology
Ancient Maya warfare flared up surprisingly early
Extreme conflicts broke out well before the decline of the Maya civilization, researchers say.
- Archaeology
Satellites are transforming how archaeologists study the past
In ‘Archaeology from Space,’ Sarah Parcak takes readers on a lively tour of the past, and archaeology of the 21st century.
- Health & Medicine
Hospitalizations highlight potential dangers of e-cigs to teens’ lungs
E-cigarette use can harm the lungs, and eight Wisconsin teens who developed severe lung injuries after vaping may be the latest victims.
- Life
Monkeys can use basic logic to decipher the order of items in a list
Rhesus macaque monkeys don’t need rewards to learn and remember how items are ranked in a list, a mental feat that may prove handy in the wild.
- Health & Medicine
A new study challenges the idea that the placenta has a microbiome
A large study of more than 500 women finds little evidence of microbes in the placenta, contrary to previous reports on the placental microbiome.
