Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Artificial Intelligence
AI models spot deepfake images, but people catch fake videos
A new study finds that humans and AI spot different kinds of deepfakes — hinting at the need to team up to fight them.
- Psychology
With effort, procrastinators can change
Procrastination in young adulthood is not set in stone, though change is difficult, a long-term study shows.
- Health & Medicine
Widespread use of HPV shots could mean fewer cervical cancer screenings
A modeling study of Norway, which has high HPV vaccination coverage and uniform cervical cancer screening, suggests fewer screens could be needed.
- Health & Medicine
Poor sleep may account for a large share of dementia cases
Researchers estimate that roughly 12 percent of U.S. dementia cases could be tied to insomnia.
- Health & Medicine
Tear gas and pepper spray can have lasting health effects
The chemicals are widely used for crowd control, but their long-term health risks are poorly understood.
- Neuroscience
A study hints positive thinking could strengthen vaccine immunity
Thinking positive increased a specific brain region's activity and might have heightened immune response after a shot.
- Health & Medicine
Genes may shape how long we live more than once thought
New research challenges the view that human life span depends mostly on lifestyle. Genes may account for half the factors that determine longevity.
- Health & Medicine
Artificial lungs kept a man alive until he could get a transplant
A new artificial lung system might keep people without lungs alive for weeks. Like real lungs, tubes and pumps oxygenate blood and maintain blood flow.
- Anthropology
Whaling may have started 1,500 years earlier than already known
Specialized whale-bone harpoons from southern Brazil dating back 5,000 years suggest that Indigenous groups in the area were whalers.
- Genetics
AI tool AlphaGenome predicts how one typo can change a genetic story
The tool helps scientists understand how single-letter mutations and distant DNA regions influence gene activity, shaping health and disease risk.
- Health & Medicine
What the new nutrition guidelines get wrong about fat
New U.S. dietary guidelines promote eating full-fat foods and meats. But experts say nuts and seed oils are better sources of the two crucial fats we need.
- Health & Medicine
The brain’s response to a heart attack may worsen recovery
In mice, blocking heart-to-brain signals improved healing after a heart attack, hinting at new targets for cardiac therapy.
