Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Microbes
A Greenland explorer will eat only decaying seal for a month
British chef Mike Keen will ski across Greenland eating only fermented seal. Researchers will study how the Inuit diet shapes gut health.
- Archaeology
First evidence of Neandertal dentistry found in ancient molar
A 59,000-year-old Neandertal molar unearthed in Siberia was drilled with a stone tool – the earliest evidence of primitive dentistry.
- Health & Medicine
Hantavirus questions grow in the wake of a cruise ship outbreak
Scientists still don’t know why Andes hantavirus is the only one shown to spread from person to person.
- Earth
The crust under Africa is thinning in a way that hasn’t been seen before
Africa’s Turkana Rift Zone, a hotbed of hominin fossils, is caught in the act of “necking," a critical transition toward continental breakup.
- Math
Jazz and classical music have become simpler, a new study finds
Mathematical analysis suggests that melodies and harmonies have become less complex as music evolves and musicians find new ways “to create great music.”
- Health & Medicine
Uterus transplants can provide a path to pregnancy and parenthood
Donated uteruses transplanted into women without a womb can allow for successful pregnancy and birth.
- Health & Medicine
Some South American rodent-borne viruses may spread as climate warms
Some rodents in South America carry arenaviruses and hantaviruses. Climate change may bring both to regions where neither is currently a threat.
- Psychology
Yawning is contagious — even in the womb
Rather than catching a yawn on sight, muscles squeezing the uterus could be the trigger for a fetus to catch a yawn from its mother.
- Neuroscience
Why some brain cells are particularly vulnerable to multiple sclerosis
DNA damage from inflammation outpaces the cells’ ability to self-repair. The finding, in human brain cells and mice, could point to new MS treatments.
- Neuroscience
25 people learned to fly with virtual wings. Here’s how the brain changed
A new study shows learning to fly in virtual reality with virtual wings can reshape the brain, making it treat wings more like body parts.
- Health & Medicine
A low-cost rotavirus test could save childrens’ lives in Nigeria
Nigerian virologist Margaret Oluwatoyin Japhet has designed a rapid test that could diagnose rotavirus at a child’s bedside.
- Archaeology
Neandertals used rhinoceros teeth as tools
Finds at sites in Spain and France suggest that Neandertals used the teeth of ancient rhinos for heavy-duty fabrication.
