Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Mirror system gets an assist
Study finds two brain systems are surprisingly active when an amputee observes a task she can’t perform.
- Psychology
Narcissists need no reality check
Masters of vanity know they’re arrogant and disliked, but see own bigheadedness as justified.
- Humans
Crime’s digital past
Computer science makes history, gleaning new findings from centuries' worth of transcripts from a Victorian-era courthouse.
- Health & Medicine
Residents of the brain
It's a zoo in there: Scientists turn up startling diversity among neurons.
- Tech
Airports’ leaden fallout may taint some kids
People who live below the flight path of piston-engine aircraft — or downwind of airports serving such small planes — are exposed to lead from aviation fuel. A new study now links an airport’s proximity to somewhat elevated blood-lead levels in children from area homes.
- Math
Varying efficacy of HIV drug cocktails explained
Steepness of slope in dose-response curve tips off researchers to importance of timing in virus’s life cycle.
- Humans
Young minds at risk from secondhand smoke
Children exposed to secondhand smoke at home are at least twice as likely to develop a neurobehavioral disorder as are kids in smokefree homes, a new study finds. And roughly 6 percent of U.S. children — some 4.8 million — encounter smoke at home.
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- Humans
Metal water bottles may leach BPA
Consumers who switched from polycarbonate-plastic water bottles to metal ones in hopes of avoiding the risk that bisphenol A will leach into their beverages aren’t necessarily any better off, a new study finds. Some metal water bottles leach even more BPA — an estrogen-mimicking pollutant — than do ones made from the now-pariah plastic.
- Chemistry
Fats stimulate binge eating
Much like marijuana, fatty foods can spur overeating, a study in rats shows. The new finding also suggests possible therapies to combat the munchies.
- Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
A good massage can help, plus bed nets for babies, sugar counteracts fish and more in this week's news.
- Life
Environment blamed for autism
A new study of twins downplays the role of genes in determining who will get autism.
