Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
It’s best if babies don’t drink their fruit as juice
New guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend no fruit juice for babies younger than 1 year old.
- Anthropology
Oldest known Homo sapiens fossils come from northern Africa, studies claim
Moroccan fossils proposed as oldest known H. sapiens, from around 300,000 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Choosing white or whole-grain bread may depend on what lives in your gut
Gut microbes determine how people’s blood sugar levels respond to breads.
- Health & Medicine
When preventing HIV, bacteria in the vagina matter
Vaginal bacteria affect how well microbicide gels used to prevent HIV work.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, antibiotic resistance alarms went unheeded
Scientists have worried about antibiotic resistance for decades.
- Health & Medicine
Babies categorize colors the same way adults do
Babies divide hues into five categories, much like adults, a result that suggests color categorization is built into the brain.
- Genetics
Mummy DNA unveils the history of ancient Egyptian hookups
A study of DNA extracted from Egyptian mummies untangles ancient ancestry and attempts to resolve quality issues.
- Health & Medicine
Some topics call for science reporting from many angles
There’s heartbreak in this issue. Science News investigates different facets of the ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States.
- Health & Medicine
For babies exposed to opioids in the womb, parents may be the best medicine
A surge in opioid-exposed newborns has U.S. doctors revamping treatments and focusing on families.
- Health & Medicine
Researchers stumble onto a new role for breast cancer drug
At first, ophthalmologist Xu Wang thought her experiment had failed. But instead, she revealed a new role for the breast cancer drug tamoxifen — protection from eye injury.
- Archaeology
Peru’s plenty brought ancient human migration to a crawl
Ancient Americans reached Peru 15,000 years ago and stayed put, excavations suggest.
- Health & Medicine
The opioid epidemic spurs a search for new, safer painkillers
Today’s opioids stop pain — but they’re also dangerous. Scientists are hunting for replacements.
