Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Archaeology
Excavations show hunter-gatherers lived in the Amazon more than 10,000 years ago
Early foragers may have laid the foundation for farming’s ascent in South America’s tropical forests.
- Health & Medicine
A neural implant can translate brain activity into sentences
With electrodes in the brain, scientists translated neural signals into speech, which could someday help the speechless speak.
- Humans
Medicaid expansion may help shrink health gaps between black and white babies
States that expanded Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act shrunk racial disparities between black and white infants, a new study shows.
- Astronomy
Seeing very far away and hitting closer to home
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses the first-ever image of a black hole and what can be done to help young children with anxiety.
- Health & Medicine
How an obscure sexually transmitted parasite tangos with the immune system
Scientists are working out how Trichomonas vaginalis, one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections, causes problems in women and men.
- Archaeology
Ancient sculptors made magnetic figures from rocks struck by lightning
Carved ‘potbelly’ stone sculptures suggest people in what’s now Guatemala knew about magnetism more than 2,000 years ago.
- Psychology
When anxiety happens as early as preschool, treatments can help
Researchers are seeking ways to break the link between preschool worries and adult anxiety.
- Science & Society
‘Invisible Women’ spotlights a gaping and dangerous gender data gap
‘Invisible Women’ explains how neglecting to collect or use data on women harms their health and safety.
- Neuroscience
The herbal supplement kratom comes with risks
The supplement kratom can cause heart racing and agitation.
- Neuroscience
Dead pig brains bathed in artificial fluid showed signs of cellular life
Four hours after pigs died, the animals’ brain cell activity was restored by a sophisticated artificial system.
- Health & Medicine
‘Added sugar’ food labels may prevent heart disease and diabetes
Nutrition labeling changes that highlight sugar added to food or drink may have large benefits for public health, researchers say.
- Archaeology
Newly translated Cherokee cave writings reveal sacred messages
Cherokee inscriptions highlight the tribe’s rituals nearly 200 years ago in what’s now a tourist cave in Alabama.
