Humans

  1. Black silhouette of a man on a parkbench with an illustration of a pink coronavirussen seated next to him.
    Health & Medicine

    Who has the highest risk of long COVID? It’s complicated

    Long COVID can look different for different people, making it difficult to pinpoint the risk factors behind it.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  2. A row of 10 positive coronavirus tests on a table
    Health & Medicine

    The curious case of the 471-day coronavirus infection

    One patient couldn’t get rid of their coronavirus infection. The case gave scientists an unprecedented look at viral evolution.

    By Meghan Rosen
  3. 3-D models of an upper leg bone and two forearm bones, each shown from two angles
    Anthropology

    7-million-year-old limb fossils may be from the earliest known hominid

    An earlier report on one of the bones of a 7-million-year-old creature that may have walked upright has triggered scientific misconduct charges.

    By Bruce Bower
  4. Yeast DNA transcription
    Tech

    50 years ago, genes eluded electron microscopes

    In the 1970s, scientists dreamed of seeing genes under the microscope. Fifty years later, powerful new tools are helping to make that dream come true.

    By Nikk Ogasa
  5. image of the face of someone sleeping in bed under a blue sheet
    Neuroscience

    Sleep deprivation may make people less generous

    Helping each other is inherently human. Yet new research shows that sleep deprivation may dampen people’s desire to donate money.

    By Sujata Gupta
  6. A teacher wearing a mask looks to several young children, also wearing masks and leaning against a cupboard
    Health & Medicine

    The new CDC guidelines may make back-to-school harder

    The public health agency’s coronavirus advice could change how schools operate and may spur COVID-19 outbreaks in classrooms.

    By Meghan Rosen
  7. a grayscale drawing of native Hawaiians rowing long boats, one of which has a sail
    Anthropology

    ‘The Five-Million-Year Odyssey’ reveals how migration shaped humankind

    A globe-trotting trek through history shows how past population migrations changed the course of human biology and culture.

    By Bruce Bower
  8. an Italian greyhound leaning on a red couch, with light streaming in through blinds
    Health & Medicine

    The first known monkeypox infection in a pet dog hints at spillover risk

    A person passed monkeypox to a dog. Other animals might be next, allowing the virus to set up shop outside of Africa for the first time.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  9. Pink and white Paxlovid pills on a Paxlovid box with the Pfizer logo
    Health & Medicine

    COVID-19 infections can rebound for some people. It’s unclear why

    Rebounding COVID-19 isn’t limited to Paxlovid patients. An infection can come back even for people not given the drug.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  10. In 2019, scientists found a way to store human livers for more than a day at subzero temperatures without the organs freezing (shown). The technique could eventually help ease the shortage of donor organs, saving thousands of lives.
    Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, scientists hoped freezing donor organs would boost transplants

    In the 1970s, biologists hoped to freeze organs so more could last long enough to be transplanted. Scientists are now starting to manage this feat.

    By Asa Stahl
  11. Chemist Michel Nieuwoudt and art historian Erin Griffey, both blond women wearing goggles, masks and lab coats, holding vials and standing in front of Renaissance-era art and a sign that reads Beautiful Chemistry
    Chemistry

    These researchers are unlocking Renaissance beauty secrets

    An art historian has teamed up with chemists to uncover the science behind cosmetics used around 500 years ago.

    By Rina Diane Caballar
  12. a group of people talking in a corporate office setting
    Humans

    Why humans have more voice control than any other primates

    Unlike all other studied primates, humans lack vocal membranes. That lets humans produce the sounds that language is built on, a new study suggests.

    By Asa Stahl