Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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- Health & Medicine
Pacemaker treats sleep apnea
Experimental device works for many patients who can’t use breathing machines.
- Psychology
Migraines respond to great expectations
Patients get more pain relief from drug and placebo labeled as headache busters than from those labeled as dummy pills.
- Health & Medicine
Babies tune in to happy sounds
High pitched, cutesy voices prove irresistible to infants.
- Microbes
Me and my microbiome
Tina Hesman Saey tries out new services offering clients a peek at their own bacteria.
- Archaeology
Animal mummies were a message direct to the gods
A new theory about the purpose of animals mummified by ancient Egyptians proposes that the cats, ibises and other dead critters were more than just simple sacrifices.
- Neuroscience
Hormone hampers effects of marijuana
Study of pot-blocking brain chemical in rodents could lead to new treatments for cannabis addiction.
- Microbes
Gut bacteria respect diets, not borders
Malawian and Guahibo gut microbiomes resembled those of herbivorous mammals, while American guts were more similar to carnivores’.
- Health & Medicine
Nanoparticle injection blocks breast cancer growth in mice
A nanoparticle-based therapy delivered directly to the mammary ducts could potentially stop pre-cancerous cells from becoming full-blown breast cancer, scientists say.
- Health & Medicine
Distractions raise crash risk for newly licensed drivers
The risk of a crash or near-crash for newly licensed drivers is tripled or greater when they are eating, texting or rubbernecking, researchers report.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin E might limit Alzheimer’s decline
A trial of vitamin E in elderly veterans with Alzheimer’s shows promise for those in the early stages of the disease.
- Humans
Mother lode
Certain sugar molecules in human breast milk do more to foster beneficial microbes, and banish harmful ones, than they do to nourish newborns.
