Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Hollywood-made science documentary series comes to TV

    Breakthrough series gives a closer look at scientists at work.

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  2. Neuroscience

    Signs of Huntington’s show up in the brain in childhood

    Hints of Huntington’s disease show up in the brain long before symptoms do.

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  3. Humans

    An amusing romp through word histories

    From ak to wid, a new book makes etymology fun.

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  4. Chemistry

    Nanoparticles in foods raise safety questions

    As scientists cook up ways to improve palatability and even make foods healthier, some are considering the potential health risks of tiny additives.

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  5. Anthropology

    Sleep time in hunter-gatherer groups on low end of scale

    Hunter-gatherer communities in Africa and South America have similar sleeping patterns as people living in postindustrial societies, researchers find.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    First known case of sexually transmitted Ebola reported

    A Liberian woman contracted Ebola in March by having sex with a survivor of the viral disease, researchers report.

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  7. Neuroscience

    Adolescent brains open to change

    Adolescent brains are still changing, a malleability that renders them particularly sensitive to the outside world.

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  8. Humans

    U.S. is growing more genetically diverse

    Young Americans are more genetically diverse than previous generations, a new DNA analysis reveals.

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  9. Genetics

    Microbes may reveal colon cancer mutations

    Certain microbial mixes are associated with particular DNA mutations in colon cancer, a new study suggests.

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  10. Anthropology

    Long before going to Europe, humans ventured east to Asia

    Cave finds indicate modern humans reached southern China long before entering Europe.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Cancer drug’s effectiveness overinflated in animal studies

    Claims about the cancer drug sunitinib are overblown because of poorly designed studies and negative results that were never published, a new analysis suggests.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Cancer drug’s effectiveness overinflated in animal studies

    Claims about the cancer drug sunitinib are overblown because of poorly designed studies and negative results that were never published, a new analysis suggests.

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