Humans

  1. Brain

    Having sparse links in the hippocampus may maximize memory storage

    Tissue from the memory centers of people’s brains reveal relatively few links among nerve cells in the hippocampus. But they carried strong, reliable signals.

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  2. Brain

    Could the magic of memory manipulation ever become real?

    Someday, technology might be able to help people better hold onto memories or forget bad ones.

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  3. Genetics

    This young biologist looked for links between diet and dyslexia

    Thermo Fisher JIC finalist Giselle Drewett wanted to know how lifestyle might influence a gene related to dyslexia.

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  4. Plants

    Microbes give plants a way to make ‘meaty’ nutrients

    Enzymes from animals helped a test plant make two nutrients essential for a balanced diet. Normally, those nutrients would only be found in meat.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Can you really die of a broken heart?

    Death by heartbreak doesn't just happen in stories. In real life, severe stress can cause takotsubo syndrome — a sometimes fatal heart problem.

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  6. Earth

    Scientists Say: Avulsion

    As rivers seek out easier routes to the sea, path reroutes can transform our world. This is ‘avulsion’ refers to in geology. In medicine, the word can describe injuries.

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  7. Brain

    Purple exists only in our brains

    Most colors represent a single wavelength of light. But your brain invents purple to deal with wavelengths from opposite ends of the visible spectrum.

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  8. Archaeology

    Let’s learn about radiocarbon dating

    Through the power of radioactivity, carbon dating can reveal the age of many fossils and artifacts.

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  9. Brain

    A single sniff is enough to detect slight odor changes

    The speed of our ability to perceive odors is on par with that of color perception, a new sniff device shows.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    U.S. teen tobacco use has hit a record low

    In 2024, tobacco use among middle- and high-school students reached a record low. But new vapes and nicotine-based products keep coming.

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  11. Brain

    Scientists Say: Aphantasia

    Not everyone has a “mind’s eye,” and that’s OK. Some people recall memories and process information in different ways altogether.

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  12. Brain

    Ouch! The pain of pulled hair registers superfast

    A hair pull is detected by a protein used to sense light touches. It also travels faster than most other types of pain.

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