Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Throat Therapy

    Scientists seek a cough remedy that really delivers relief.

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  2. Humans

    Yet another study links insecticide to bee losses

    Since 2006, honeybee populations across North America have been hammered by catastrophic losses. Although this pandemic has a name — colony collapse disorder, or CCD — its cause has remained open to speculation. New experiments now strengthen the case for pesticide poisoning as a likely contributor.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Extreme eaters show abnormal brain activity

    Seeing images of food revs up reward areas in the obese and slows them down in severely underweight people, a brain scan study shows.

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  4. Life

    Stem cell treatment spurs cartilage growth

    A small molecule called kartogenin prompts the manufacture of lost connective tissue in mice.

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  5. Psychology

    Autism rates rise again

    Related developmental disorders affect 1.1 percent of U.S. 8-year-olds.

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  6. Humans

    Weighing the costs of conferencing

    A provocative editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association questions the value of attending scientific conferences. It’s a theme that reemerges every few years. And in times of tight budgets, the idea seems worth revisiting.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Jolt to brain aids language recovery

    Stroke patients treated with brain stimulation show improvement in language skills.

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  8. Humans

    From the ashes, the oldest controlled fire

    A South Africa cave yields the oldest secure evidence for a blaze controlled by human ancestors.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Brain scan foretells who will fold under pressure

    Tests on high-stakes math problems reveal key regions of brain activity linked to choking under pressure.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Mapping the brain’s superhighways

    New scans created using diffusion MRI technique reveal an order to information flow in the mind.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Psoriasis drugs show promise

    Two new drugs attack psoriasis by inhibiting interleukin-17, a focal player in the troublesome skin disease.

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  12. Humans

    New ancestor grasped at walking

    By 3.4 million years ago, two human relatives built differently for upright movement inhabited East Africa.

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