Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Anthropology
A 104-centimeter-long hair could rewrite recordkeeping in Inca society
Analysis of the hair used in a knotted device reveals the owner’s simple diet. That suggests commoners, not just the elite, kept records in Inca society.
- Humans
Stopping menopausal hormones may require more bone monitoring
Women face a small rise in fracture risk within 10 years of stopping therapy, suggesting the need for additional monitoring.
- Health & Medicine
The sugar substitute sucralose makes immunotherapy less effective
Found in Splenda, sucralose reduces immunotherapy efficacy via its effects on the gut microbiome, but arginine supplements might counter the outcome.
- Health & Medicine
How flossing a mouse’s teeth could lead to a new kind of vaccine
Flu viruses often enter the body through mucous tissue in the nose. Researchers are developing new ways to protect such areas.
- Health & Medicine
New clues emerge on how foods spark anaphylaxis
In two studies of mice, a molecule called leukotriene helped trigger food-induced anaphylaxis. A drug approved for asthma — zileuton — diminished it.
- Archaeology
This ancient Siberian ice mummy had a talented tattooist
Researchers reconstructed a roughly 2,000-year-old woman’s tattoos, from prowling tigers to a fantastical griffinlike creature.
- Archaeology
7 stone tools might rewrite the timeline of hominid migration in Indonesia
Excavated implements suggest a Homo species arrived on Sulawesi over 1 million years ago, before a nearby island hosted hobbit ancestors.
- Genetics
This snail may hold a secret to human eye regeneration
Golden apple snails can regrow full, functional eyes. Studying their genes may reveal how to repair human eye injuries.
- Health & Medicine
What is the best exercise to improve sleep?
An analysis of 30 trials delivered a surprising twist: One exercise outperformed walking, resistance training and aerobic exercise in the treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia.
- Health & Medicine
Higher colon cancer rates may reflect earlier screening success
The recommended age for starting colorectal cancer screening is now 45. That shift may explain a rise in early cases.
- Health & Medicine
Some probiotics could feed, rather than fend off, infections
Probiotics containing Lactobacillus gasseri Lg-36 prevented C. difficile infections in mice, but L. acidophilus probiotics made infection more likely.
- Health & Medicine
Some U.S. newborns still get HIV despite efforts to screen for it. Here’s why
Routine tests in the third trimester may catch missed cases and flag the need for treatment that reduces a baby‘s risk of getting HIV to near zero.
