Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Psychology
Psychopaths get time off for bad brains
In a survey, judges tended to say they would reduce sentences for criminals defended with biological evidence.
- Health & Medicine
Brain’s hidden sewers revealed
Specialized cells host a hitherto unknown cleansing system.
- Life
Mantis shrimp flub color vision test
Unexpectedly poor results on crustacean eye exams suggest there’s another way to perceive color.
- Earth
Antibacterial agent can weaken muscle
Triclosan impairs the power of the heart and other muscles in two species and at relatively low doses.
- Life
Smell deals with deprivation differently
One odor-related brain region called the orbitofrontal cortex keeps the sense primed for resumed input during a cold.
- Humans
Good times led to grisly custom
Ancient Chileans developed artificial mummification after an increase in the numbers of living and dead people made naturally preserved bodies hard to ignore.
- Tech
Camera hack can spot cleaned-up crimes
Exploiting a standard tool of art conservation can help police find painted-over bloodstains.
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- Chemistry
Scaffolding props up failing hearts
Hydrogel treatment stimulates cell repair and blood vessel regrowth in pig experiments.
- Humans
New fossils hint at ancestral split
Jaw and face bones suggest two Homo species lived in East Africa nearly 2 million years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Thinner isn’t always better in diabetes
Normal-weight people who develop diabetes have higher mortality than people who are overweight or obese at the disease’s onset
- Humans
North African Diaspora written in genes
DNA analysis of people from 15 groups identifies distinct groups and migrations.
