Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Science & Society
Informed wisdom trumps rigid rules when it comes to medical evidence
Narrative reviews of medical evidence offer benefits that the supposedly superior systematic approach can’t.
- Anthropology
A hole in an ancient cow’s skull could have been surgery practice
Before performing skull operations on people, ancient surgeons may have rehearsed on cows.
- Archaeology
This ancient Maya city may have helped the Snake King dynasty spread
A rural hub in an ancient Maya state gets its due with some laser help.
- Materials Science
A new plastic film glows to flag food contaminated with dangerous microbes
Plastic patches that glow when they touch some types of bacteria could be built into food packaging to reduce the spread of foodborne illness.
- Archaeology
Dogs lived and died with humans 10,000 years ago in the Americas
Dogs unearthed at sites in Illinois were older than originally thought.
- Archaeology
Tales of rampant suicide among Custer’s soldiers may be overblown
Few of Custer’s men killed themselves in the face of overwhelming Native American numbers at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, skeletal data suggest.
- Health & Medicine
This is how norovirus invades the body
Norovirus targets a rare type of gut cell, a study in mice finds.
- Genetics
Sweet potatoes might have arrived in Polynesia long before humans
Genetic analysis suggests that sweet potatoes were present in Polynesia over 100,000 years ago, and didn’t need help crossing the Pacific.
- Health & Medicine
Should you bank your baby’s umbilical cord blood? Here’s a guide for thinking through the issue.
The professionals have advice to give, but the decision is ultimately a personal one.
- Health & Medicine
50 years on, vaccines have eliminated measles from the Americas
Thanks to high vaccination rates, measles has mostly disappeared from the Americas.
- Health & Medicine
World’s hottest pepper may have triggered this man’s severe headaches
A man ate one of the hottest peppers in the world. About a minute later, his head began pounding.
- Anthropology
Finger fossil puts people in Arabia at least 86,000 years ago
A desert discovery suggests that Arabia was an ancient human destination.
