Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Humans

    Vitamin D targets increased

    A panel advises raising the dietary allowance for the nutrient, but some scientists say the new recommendations are still woefully low.

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  2. Humans

    World could heat up 4 degrees C in 50 years

    Immediate and substantial action to reduce emissions would be needed to meet climate negotiators' goal of holding warming to a 2 degree Celsius increase, a new package of scientific papers concludes.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    A few stray hairs

    Brain regions that sense the world can also flick a whisker, research in mice shows, suggesting that the organ’s division of labor is not so clear-cut.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Antiretroviral drugs may prevent HIV infection

    Gay and bisexual men who don’t have the AIDS virus can reduce their risk of getting it by taking a drug combination, a new study finds.

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  5. Tech

    Newfound water risk: Lead-leaching valves

    Hidden elements in drinking-water lines can shed large amounts of lead, a toxic heavy metal. And it's quite legal, even if it does skirt the intent of federal regulations.

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  6. Humans

    Visor might protect troops from blasts

    Computer simulations show that the current military helmet lets explosive forces into the head through the face.

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  7. Humans

    Wine-trashing microbe identified

    In finding the source of the off-tasting molecule MDMP, researchers hope to point the way to eliminating it.

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  8. Psychology

    Shared talking styles herald new and lasting romance

    Verbally in-sync conversations may help to start and maintain dating relationships.

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  9. Humans

    Extra weight in early childhood foretells later disease risk

    A study tracking kids from birth into young adulthood identifies ages 2 to 6 as most crucial for predicting later problems with metabolic syndrome.

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  10. Humans

    Amphibian debuts

    Hunt for lost frog turns up new species in Colombian rain forests.

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  11. Paleontology

    Ancient trumpets played eerie notes

    Acoustic scientists re-create and analyze sounds from 3,000-year-old shell instruments for insight into pre-Inca civilization.

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  12. Tech

    Lots of blame over BP well blowout, panel reports

    Crews responsible for drilling BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, this past spring, missed plenty of signs that a catastrophic accident was looming, according to a November 17 interim report by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council.

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