Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Anthropology
Mummified llamas yield new insights into Inca ritual sacrifices
Bound and decorated llamas, found at an Inca site in southern Peru, may have been buried alive as part of events in annexed territories.
- Humans
The longest trail of fossilized human footprints hints at a risky Ice Age trek
Researchers have discovered the world's longest trail of fossilized human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico.
- Animals
Why bat scientists are socially distancing from their subjects
Scientists are calling for a “hands-off” approach to research to decrease the chances of spreading the coronavirus to bats in North America.
- Health & Medicine
The arthritis drug tocilizumab doesn’t appear to help fight COVID-19
The best available evidence so far hasn’t found that the anti-inflammatory drug benefited patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
- Anthropology
Homo erectus, not humans, may have invented the barbed bone point
Carved artifacts excavated from Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge suggest now-extinct hominids made barbed bone points long before humans did, researchers say.
- Anthropology
How environmental changes may have helped make ancient humans more adaptable
An East African sediment core unveils ecological changes underlying a key Stone Age transition.
- Humans
We still don’t know what COVID-19 immunity means or how long it lasts
Without knowing how long immunity lasts, it may be impossible to reach herd immunity without a vaccine or an extremely high death toll.
- Chemistry
Heating deltamethrin may help it kill pesticide-resistant mosquitoes
A simple chemical trick creates a much faster-acting form of a common insecticide, which could help fight malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses.
- Health & Medicine
Remdesivir doesn’t reduce COVID-19 deaths, a large WHO trial finds
An international study of more than 11,000 people finds that remdesivir doesn’t prevent deaths from COVID-19, but the drug may still be useful.
- Health & Medicine
Can supplements really help fight COVID-19? Here’s what we know and don’t know
Unless you’re deficient, there’s little evidence yet for taking Vitamin D and other supplements to treat or prevent a coronavirus infection.
- Health & Medicine
The FDA has approved the first treatment for Ebola
Lab-made antibodies developed by Regeneron marshal an immune response and curb the Ebola virus’s ability to infect cells.
- Science & Society
Easy interventions like revamping forms help people show up to court
A new study shows that simple behavioral interventions called nudges can help people avoid a missed court appearance and resulting arrest warrant.
