Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Save the Brain: Study suggests new way to treat head trauma
A compound that stimulates nerve-cell activity may help the brain recover from serious head injuries.
- Archaeology
Cat’s Cradle? New find pushes back origin of tamed felines
Archaeological finds on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus indicate that people domesticated cats by about 9,500 years ago, long before cat taming achieved prominence in ancient Egypt.
- Humans
Sense of Smell
Get in touch with your sense of smell. This invitation comes from the Sense of Smell Institute, which aims to spotlight the importance of smell in human psychology, behavior, and quality of life. The institute’s Web site offers a report addressing what would happen if you were to lose your sense of smell. The site […]
- Health & Medicine
SARS vaccine tests well in mouse model
Scientists have developed a DNA vaccine that stops the SARS infection in mice.
- Anthropology
Gene implicated in apes’ brain growth
A gene with poorly understood functions began to accumulate favorable mutations around 8 million years ago and probably contributed to brain expansion in ancient apes.
- Health & Medicine
Papillomavirus infections spike in sunny months
Getting sun could increase vulnerability to a sexually transmitted virus that may lead to cervical cancer.
- Health & Medicine
Exercise after breast cancer extends life
After a woman survives an initial bout with breast cancer, being physically active improves her odds of beating the disease over the long term.
- Humans
From the March 31, 1934, issue
A desert earthquake, producing bromine from seawater, and nerve damage from alcohol consumption.
- Health & Medicine
A Virus Crosses Over to Wild-Animal Hunters
A potentially dangerous virus is moving from nonhuman primates to Africans who hunt and eat wild animals, a new study suggests.
- Anthropology
Monkey Business
They're pugnacious and clever, and they have complex social lives—but do capuchin monkeys actually exhibit cultural behaviors?
- Health & Medicine
Better-Off Circumcised? Foreskin may permit HIV entry, infection
Circumcision seems to offer partial protection against HIV infection, but not other sexually transmitted diseases.
- Archaeology
Laser scanners map rock art
Researchers have developed a way to use laser-based surveying equipment to quickly and easily create detailed images of ancient rock art.
