Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Sickle-cell may blunt, not stop, malaria
Once thought to keep parasite out of cells, the trait appears to diminish the severity of infection.
- Humans
No nuts for you, Nutcracker Man
Tooth analysis shows huge-jawed hominid grazed on grasses and sedges.
- Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
A genetic cause for small brains, heart links to HIV and calcium, and more in this week’s news.
- Humans
Most Neandertals were right-handers
Right handedness, and perhaps spoken language, originated at least a half million years ago, a new study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Armadillos may spread leprosy
A new strain of the disease has shown up in patients and in the animals in parts of the Deep South, suggesting a cause of rare U.S. cases.
- Life
Half-asleep rats look wide awake
In a discovery with ominous implications for sleep deprivation, researchers find that some brain regions can doze off while an animal remains active.
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- Psychology
Why some gorillas go unseen
Attention differences help to explain why some people don't notice surprising sights.
- Humans
Because some foods carry organophosphate residues
Three new papers link prenatal exposures to organophosphate (OP) pesticides with diminished IQs in children. Fruits and veggies are one continuing source of exposure to these bug killers. As to what we’re supposed to do with that knowledge — well, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, offers some guidance.
- Chemistry
Pesticides tied to lower IQ in children
Chemicals once sprayed in homes — and still used on farms — were found to have significant effects in three studies.
- Health & Medicine
Flies on meth burn through sugar
Cellular effects may explain why addicts often have a sweet tooth.
