Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    Eating a lot of fiber could improve some cancer treatments

    A high-fiber diet, which boosts the diversity of gut microbes, may make an immune therapy against skin cancer more effective.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Sleeping in on the weekend can’t make up for lost sleep

    Using the weekend to catch up on sleep is ineffective at making-up for lost sleep and offsetting the consequences to a person’s health.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Wireless patches can comfortably monitor sick babies’ health

    New skin sensors that wirelessly transmit health data could offer a less invasive way to keep tabs on newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Watching hours of TV is tied to verbal memory decline in older people

    The more television people age 50 and up watched, the worse they recalled a list of words in tests years later, a study finds.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, people thought MSG caused ‘Chinese restaurant syndrome’

    In the 1960s, people blamed monosodium glutamate in Chinese food for making them sick, but the claim hasn't stood up to time or science.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Treating mosquitoes may be a new way to fight malaria

    A lab test suggests it may be possible to treat mosquitoes infected with the malaria parasite to stop disease transmission.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    With its burning grip, shingles can do lasting damage

    Varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles, may instigate several other problems.

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  8. Animals

    ‘Mama’s Last Hug’ showcases the emotional lives of animals

    In ‘Mama’s Last Hug,’ Frans de Waal argues that emotions occur throughout the animal world.

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  9. Life

    Readers ponder mitochondria, Neandertal diets, deep sea corals and more

    Readers had questions about mitochondrial DNA, Neandertal diets, deep ocean corals and more.

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  10. Archaeology

    Ancient Angkor’s mysterious decline may have been slow, not sudden

    Analyzing sediment from the massive city’s moat challenges the idea that the last capital of the Khmer Empire collapsed suddenly.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    The FDA says don’t buy young plasma therapies. Here’s why

    Infusions of plasma from young people may hold the secret of youth, but there’s not much evidence to support the idea yet.

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  12. Anthropology

    African hominid fossils show ancient steps toward a two-legged stride

    New Ardipithecus ramidus fossils reveal how hominids were shifting toward humanlike walking more than 4 million years ago.

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