Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Science & Society
Attitude, not aptitude, may contribute to the gender gap
Does talent or hard work matter most? A new survey suggests an emphasis on genius predicts how many women end up in a field of study.
- Health & Medicine
What’s in a nap? For babies, it may make long-lasting memories
Taking naps after learning seems to help babies less than a year old make memories and keep them, for about a day anyway.
- Neuroscience
Brain’s plumbing may knock out blood test for brain injury
The brain's waste-removal system may complicate scientists' attempts to create a blood test to diagnose traumatic brain injury.
- Archaeology
Ancient bone hand ax identified in China
People may have dug up roots with the 170,000-year-old bone tool, the first found in East Asia.
- Neuroscience
To beat sleepiness of anxiety drugs, team looks to body’s clock
Studying basic functions, such as the body’s clock, has inadvertently led to a compound that relieves anxiety in mice.
- Neuroscience
Protectors of our nervous system play a role in pain
PET and MRI brain scans show that the cells that protect our central nervous system also play a role in chronic pain.
- Health & Medicine
Asthma may add to sleep apnea risk
A long-term sleep study strengthens the link between the two breathing disorders asthma and sleep apnea.
- Health & Medicine
More oxygen may lead to more tumors
Lung cancer risk drops at higher elevations where the air is thinner.
- Humans
Babbling to babies is OK, despite previous warnings against it
Fifty years ago, a researcher advised banning baby talk, but results since then say otherwise.
- Health & Medicine
Allergy-related Google searches follow pollen season ups and downs
Google search queries could help researchers track pollen seasons in areas without pollen-monitoring stations.
- Health & Medicine
New antibiotic candidate shows promise
Tests in lab dishes and mice suggest an experimental compound called teixobactin can kill staph, TB microbes and other bacteria.
- Health & Medicine
Weight-loss surgery linked to better survival
Obese middle-aged and older people fare better if they have had bariatric surgery, a long-term study of veterans finds.
