Humans
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Psychology
Some fights vanish in plain sight
People engrossed in a task frequently overlook the seemingly obvious, such as a loud brawl.
By Bruce Bower - Life
Ketamine’s antidepressant effect explained
A potential fast-acting treatment boosts the brain chemical BDNF, which may be lacking in depression.
- Humans
Human mutation rate slower than thought
First direct measurements show that the number of genetic typos inherited from each parent can be highly skewed toward either mom or dad.
- Humans
Humans
War spawns cooperation, plus microloan payoffs, preschool’s benefits and more in this week’s news.
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
Fat joins suite of tastes, plus crossword vision, metastasis clues and more in this week’s news.
By Science News - Tech
Social Networks
Power networks in Congress, Twitter’s crystal ball and iPhone contagion in news from an MIT workshop on information in social media.
By Science News - Humans
Traditional Chinese medicine: Big questions
Just because traditional Chinese medicines have been used for a long time is no guarantee they’re efficacious or safe. How would we know? It turns out this question is hard to answer — even for the Chinese.
By Janet Raloff - Life
Genetics offers more hints about autism
Three studies illustrate why a single cause for autism spectrum disorders has been so difficult to pin down.
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- Health & Medicine
Drug prevents some breast cancers
A hormone-blocking compound can waylay some malignancies in healthy women who are deemed at risk.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
Site hints at Asian roots for human genus
An early Homo species inhabited the Caucasus region 1.85 million years ago, casting doubt on its proposed African origin.
By Bruce Bower - Humans
Humans
Lewis and Clark’s gale encounter, nixing college lectures, divorce’s toll on kids and more in this week’s news
By Science News