Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
The CDC advises: Don’t swallow the water in a hotel swimming pool
In a 15-year period, hotel swimming pools and water parks had the highest number of swimming-related disease outbreaks in the United States.
- Anthropology
Ancient Chinese farmers sowed literal seeds of change in Southeast Asia
Two waves of ancient migration from China to Southeast Asia spread farming and languages.
- Life
Your blood type might make you more likely to get traveler’s diarrhea
People with type A blood are more likely to develop severe diarrhea from E. coli infections.
- Health & Medicine
Kids are selective imitators, not extreme copycats
Preschool-age kids have a reputation as “overimitators” based on lab tests. But in realistic test situations, kids don’t blindly imitate adults.
- Animals
With a little convincing, rats can detect tuberculosis
TB-sniffing rats prove more accurate in detecting infection, especially in children, than the most commonly used diagnostic tool.
- Humans
The window for learning a language may stay open surprisingly long
A crucial period for language learning may extend well into teen years, a new study suggests.
- Animals
These caterpillars march. They fluff. They scare London.
Oak processionary moths have invaded England and threatened the pleasure of spring breezes.
- Health & Medicine
Is it an invasion of your kids’ privacy to post pictures of them on social media?
Growing up in an online world doesn’t mean that kids don’t care about privacy. Parents should keep this in mind when posting pictures of their kids to social media.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, starving tumors of oxygen proposed as weapon in cancer fight
Starving cancerous tumors of oxygen was proposed to help kill them. But the approach can make some cancer cells more aggressive.
- Health & Medicine
An enzyme involved in cancer and aging gets a close-up
The structure of telomerase, described with the greatest detail yet, may give researchers clues to cancer treatments and other telomerase-related illnesses.
- Genetics
Adapting to life in the north may have been a real headache
A cold-sensing protein has adapted to different local climates, also affecting risk of migraine.
- Health & Medicine
FDA approves the first smallpox treatment
Concerns about bioterrorism fueled the development of the first treatment for smallpox.
