Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Psychology

    Fighting willpower’s catch-22

    Avoiding daily temptations works better than using willpower, which has oddly unintended effects.

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  2. Humans

    Catching a mood on Facebook

    Happiness and other feelings filter among online friends through their brief posts.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Prions more mobile than thought

    Scientists coax pathogens from cow and goat to infect engineered mice, suggesting disease agents can readily jump from one species to another.

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  4. Humans

    Intel Science Talent Search names top 40 finalists

    More than 1,800 high school students entered the 2012 competition.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Social friction tied to inflammation

    Negative interactions with others or stressful competition for another’s attention seem to have risky biological effects on an individual.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Turn off, tune in, drop out

    Magic mushrooms reduce blood flow to parts of the brain responsible for sense of self.

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  7. Humans

    Election night numbers can signal fraud

    Wealth of high-turnout blowouts in Russia’s 2011 parliamentary contest strongly suggests ballot stuffing, an analysis concludes.

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  8. Humans

    Junk food in schools gets weighty reprieve

    Disputed data suggest that non-nutritious eats sold on-site don’t fatten kids.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Mineral quashes deadly bacterial poisons

    Manganese supplement might someday help counter a virulent form of E. coli.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Proteins may warn of diabetic kidney disease risk

    Patients who have high levels of compounds called TNF receptors in their blood have a heightened risk of developing renal failure, two studies suggest.

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  11. Humans

    Seaweed study fuels bioenergy enthusiasm

    Munched by a manipulated microbe, ocean algae readily yield ethanol.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Sleep solidifies bad feelings

    A night of slumber reinforces not just traumatic memories but the negative emotions that go with them, one study finds.

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