Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Archaeology
This hieroglyph is the oldest known record of the Maya calendar
Plaster fragments with the markings date to at least 200 B.C. and indicate that the calendar system, still used today, might be centuries older.
- Anthropology
How ancient, recurring climate changes may have shaped human evolution
Climate changes drove where Homo species lived over the last 2 million years, with a disputed ancestor giving rise to H. sapiens, a new study claims.
- Health & Medicine
What we learned about COVID-19 safety from a NYC anime convention
November’s Anime NYC convention was not a COVID-19 superspreader event, which means there are lessons to be learned.
- Health & Medicine
Racial bias can seep into U.S. patients’ medical notes
Black patients were more often described negatively in medical notes than white patients, which may impact care.
- Health & Medicine
We can do better than what was ‘normal’ before the pandemic
With all that people have endured, it would be a missed opportunity to toss aside what we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Humans
Where you grew up may shape your navigational skills
People raised in cities with simple, gridlike layouts were worse at navigating in a video game designed for studying the brain.
- Genetics
We finally have a fully complete human genome
Finding the missing 8 percent of the human genome gives researchers a more powerful tool to better understand human health, disease and evolution.
- Anthropology
North America’s oldest skull surgery dates to at least 3,000 years ago
Bone regrowth suggests the man, who lived in what’s now Alabama, survived a procedure to treat brain swelling by scraping a hole out of his forehead.
- Health & Medicine
‘Vagina Obscura’ shows how little is known about female biology
The new book ‘Vagina Obscura’ chronicles how scientists are finally giving female health and anatomy proper attention.
- Anthropology
Social mingling shapes how orangutans issue warning calls
The new findings hint at how modern language may have taken root in sparse communities of ancient apes and humans.
- Health & Medicine
How I’ll decide when it’s time to ditch my mask
New COVID-19 masking guidelines are designed for communities not individuals, making a decision about safety difficult.
- Genetics
How gene therapy overcame high-profile failures
A dark period for gene therapy didn’t derail scientists determined to help patients.
