Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
College COVID-19 testing can reduce coronavirus deaths in local communities
Counties with colleges that did COVID-19 testing fared better against the coronavirus in fall 2020 than towns with colleges that did not test.
- Psychology
The idea that many people grow following trauma may be a myth
Studies of posttraumatic growth are fundamentally flawed and can contribute to toxic cultural narratives, researchers say.
- Health & Medicine
How scientists are shifting their search for links between diet and dementia
Studies of food’s impact on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are hampered by complexity. Scientists hope new research approaches prove more fruitful.
- Health & Medicine
This soft, electronic ‘nerve cooler’ could be a new way to relieve pain
A tiny electronic device implanted in the body generates targeted pain relief by cooling off nerves, experiments in rats suggest.
- Space
Six months in space leads to a decade’s worth of long-term bone loss
Even after a year of recovery in Earth’s gravity, astronauts who’d been in space six months or more still had bone loss equal to a decade of aging.
- Health & Medicine
New COVID-19 boosters could contain bits of the omicron variant
The omicron variant is different enough from the original version to require an update to COVID-19 vaccines, experts say.
- Tech
A neck patch for athletes could help detect concussions early
The small sensor is sleeker and cheaper than other devices used to monitor neck strain in athletes.
- Health & Medicine
Here’s what we know right now about getting COVID-19 again
Repeat coronavirus infections may be on the rise as the omicron variant continues to spread. Scientists are still trying to nail down the risks.
- Archaeology
Britons’ tools from 560,000 years ago have emerged from gravel pits
A new study confirms that an archaeological site in southeastern England called Fordwich is one of the oldest hominid sites in the country.
- Health & Medicine
Monkeypox is not a global health emergency for now, WHO says
The decision comes as the outbreak of the disease related to smallpox continues to spread, affecting at least 4,100 people in 46 countries as of June 24.
- Health & Medicine
5 misunderstandings of pregnancy biology that cloud the abortion debate
The Supreme Court’s scrapping of Roe v. Wade shifts decisions about related health care to states. Accurate science is often missing in those talks.
- Health & Medicine
Western wildfires’ health risks extend across the country
As western wildfires become more common, hazardous smoke is sending people — especially children — to emergency rooms on the East Coast.
