Humans
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
How to build a human brain
Organoids, made from human stem cells, are growing into brains and other miniorgans to help researchers study development
By Ingfei Chen - Archaeology
Modern tech unravels mysteries of Egyptian mummy portraits
A museum exhibit showcases what modern analytical tools can reveal about ancient Egyptian funerary portraits and mummies.
- Tech
This stick-on patch could keep tabs on stroke patients at home
New wearable electronics that monitor swallowing and speech could aid rehabilitation therapy for stroke patients.
- Neuroscience
To hear the beat, your brain may think about moving to it
To keep time to a song, the brain relies on a region used to plan movement — even when you’re not tapping along.
By Dan Garisto - Anthropology
In Borneo, hunting emerges as a key threat to endangered orangutans
Only small numbers of Bornean orangutans will survive coming decades, researchers say.
By Bruce Bower - Genetics
Study debunks fishy tale of how rabbits were first tamed
A popular tale about rabbit domestication turns out to be fiction.
- Health & Medicine
Cutting off a brain enzyme reversed Alzheimer’s plaques in mice
Inhibiting an enzyme involved in the production of Alzheimer’s protein globs also made old globs, or plaques, disappear in mouse brains.
- Anthropology
Elongated heads were a mark of elite status in an ancient Peruvian society
Elites in ancient Peruvian society developed a signature, stretched-out head shape over several centuries.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Even after bedbugs are eradicated, their waste lingers
Bedbug waste contains high levels of the allergy-triggering chemical histamine, which stays behind even after the insects are eradicated.
- Health & Medicine
14 cattle eyeworms removed from Oregon woman’s eye
Oregon woman has the first ever eye infection with the cattle eyeworm Thelazia gulosa.
- Health & Medicine
The small intestine, not the liver, is the first stop for processing fructose
In mice, fructose gets processed in the small intestine before getting to the liver.
- Health & Medicine
Let your kids help you, and other parenting tips from traditional societies
Hunter-gatherers and villagers have some parenting tips for modern moms and dads.
By Bruce Bower