Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
More U.S. adults are drinking, and more heavily
Heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders have risen in the United States, at a cost to society’s health.
- Anthropology
Ancient people arrived in Sumatra’s rainforests more than 60,000 years ago
Humans reached Indonesia not long after leaving Africa.
- Anthropology
Infant ape’s tiny skull could have a big impact on ape evolution
Fossil comes from a lineage that had ties to the ancestor of modern apes and humans, researchers argue.
- Psychology
A look at Rwanda’s genocide helps explain why ordinary people kill their neighbors
New research on the 1994 Rwanda genocide overturns assumptions about why people participate in genocide. A sense of duty, not blind obedience, drives many perpetrators.
- Science & Society
To combat cholera in Yemen, one scientist goes back to basics
As the cholera epidemic rages on in war-torn Yemen, basic hygiene is the first line of defense.
- Anthropology
Sacrificed dog remains feed tales of Bronze Age ‘wolf-men’ warriors
Canine remnants of a possible Bronze Age ceremony inspire debate.
- Health & Medicine
Spread of misfolded proteins could trigger type 2 diabetes
Experiments in mice raise the question of whether type 2 diabetes might be transmissible.
- Health & Medicine
When kids imitate others, they’re just being human
In imitation tests, kids readily performed nonsensical actions, but bonobos didn’t. The results hint that excessive imitation may be a uniquely human trait.
- Health & Medicine
One in three U.S. adults takes opioids, and many misuse them
More than a third of U.S. adults used prescription opioids in 2015, and nearly 13 percent of that group misused the painkillers in some way.
- Health & Medicine
One in three U.S. adults takes opioids, and many misuse them
More than a third of U.S. adults used prescription opioids in 2015, and nearly 13 percent of that group misused the painkillers in some way.
- Neuroscience
Mice with a mutation linked to autism affect their littermates’ behavior
Genetically normal littermates of mutated mice behave strangely, suggesting that the social environment plays a big role in behavior.
- Health & Medicine
Newborn baby’s infection offers a cautionary tale about placenta pills
A newborn came down with a dangerous bacterial infection. The culprit, scientists suspect, was contaminated placenta pills eaten by the mother.
