Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
Africa’s oldest human DNA helps unveil an ancient population shift
Long-distance mate seekers started staying closer to home about 20,000 years ago.
- Archaeology
The world’s oldest pants stitched together cultures from across Asia
A re-creation of a 3,000-year-old horseman’s trousers helped scientists unravel its complex origins.
- Health & Medicine
An anime convention in November was not an omicron superspreader event
Vaccines, ventilation and other safety measures probably prevented the variant’s spread at Anime NYC, reports suggest.
- Archaeology
A technique borrowed from ecology hints at hundreds of lost medieval legends
An ecology-based statistical approach may provide a storybook ending for efforts to gauge ancient cultural diversity.
- Science & Society
Nudge theory’s popularity may block insights into improving society
Small interventions that influence people’s behavior can be tested. But the real world requires big, hard-to-measure changes too, scientists say.
- Health & Medicine
Chewing sugar-free gum reduced preterm births in a large study
Among 10,000 women in Malawi, those who chewed xylitol gum daily had fewer preterm births compared with women who didn’t chew the gum.
- Genetics
Gene therapies for sickle cell disease come with hope and challenges
Pediatrician Erica Esrick discusses existing sickle cell treatments and an ongoing clinical trial.
- Health & Medicine
Omicron crushed delta in the U.S. These numbers show just how fast it happened
It took the delta coronavirus variant eight weeks to make up more than 50 percent of new U.S. COVID-19 infections, estimates show. It took omicron two.
- Archaeology
Homo sapiens may have reached Europe 10,000 years earlier than previously thought
Archaeological finds in an ancient French rock-shelter suggest migrations to the continent started long before Neandertals died out.
- Genetics
How one scientist aims to boost Black people’s representation in genetic datasets
Through information sharing, geneticist Tshaka Cunningham wants to build trust and encourage more Black people to engage with the medical community.
- Science & Society
Military towns are the most racially integrated places in the U.S. Here’s why
The military’s big stick approach allowed the institution to integrate troops and military towns. Can the civilian world follow suit?
- Health & Medicine
Why being pregnant and unvaccinated against COVID-19 is a risky combo
Being pregnant puts an individual at higher risk for severe illness and death from COVID-19, but vaccination has lagged among pregnant people.
