Humans
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Simple steps can offer health benefits
Studies find that even small changes in eating habits and movement can lower risk of heart disease.
By Laura Beil - Health & Medicine
Dropping blood pressure to 120 lowers heart woes, data confirm
Aggressive treatment to lower systolic blood pressure to 120 reduces risk of heart attack, but causes some side effects.
By Meghan Rosen - Health & Medicine
Antibodies to fight Alzheimer’s may have unexpected consequences
Alzheimer’s-targeted antibodies make neurons misbehave even more, a study of mice shows.
- Life
Gene editing helps a baby battle cancer
Doctors used molecular scalpels to tweak T cells to target leukemia but not harm the patient.
- Health & Medicine
Young babies live in a world unto themselves
Young babies don’t let information from the outside throw off their touch perception, a finding that has clues for how babies experience the world.
- Anthropology
Ancient hominids used wooden spears to fend off big cats
Saber-toothed cat remains suggest ancient hominids used wooden spears as defensive weapons.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Parasite gives a man cancer
Tapeworms can kick parasitism up a notch to become cancer, a case in Colombia shows.
- Neuroscience
Blood exerts a powerful influence on the brain
Instead of just responding to the energy needs of neurons, the blood can have a direct and powerful influence on the brain.
- Anthropology
Early globalization on display in history of Eurasian civilization
It was a long, strange trip from the first Eurasian farmers to the modern world.
By Bruce Bower - Psychology
No, cheese is not just like crack
Recent news reports claimed that a study shows cheese is addictive. But the facts behind the research show cheese and crack have little in common.
- Anthropology
Petite primate fossil could upend ideas about ape evolution
Ancient fossils suggest modern apes descended from a small, gibbonlike creature.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Synchronized dancing boosts pain tolerance
Dancing in sync to high energy routines increase pain tolerance and helps people bond as a group, a study suggests.