Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
HPV vaccination not linked to multiple sclerosis
Getting vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV, is not associated with developing multiple sclerosis or similar diseases, a new study shows.
- Archaeology
Stones challenge dating of Easter Island collapse
Despite losing ground in some areas, Polynesian farmers outlasted European contact.
- Life
Cold coddles colds
Antiviral responses aren’t as effective against common cold viruses in cooler temperatures.
