Humans
- Earth
Editors’ top picks for 2016
From gravity waves to climate’s human impact and an exploration of post-election racism, we’ve covered the year’s major stories. Here what was most important.
- Health & Medicine
Outdoor time is good for your eyes
Being outdoors exposes children to bright light that can be good for their eyes. Spending just one extra daylight hour outdoors each week can substantially lower their chance of becoming nearsighted, a study finds.
- Environment
Food-like smell on plastic may lure seabirds to eat it
When plastic smells like supper, seabirds and other animals can be fooled into thinking it is food.
- Health & Medicine
High school vapers often become heavy smokers
New studies show e-cig ads promote vaping by teen — and their conversion to smoking tobacco.
- Brain
To reveal how the brain creates joy, start by tickling rats
Rats love a good tickle. Not only do they beg for more, but the action itself activates a part of the brain that detects touch, researchers find.
- Science & Society
Racism hurts
Hate crimes and harassment since the 2016 election affirm that racism still exists in America. Here’s what racism is, how it hurts and how people who witness it can respond.
- Science & Society
Five things students can do about racism
Racism plagues societies around the world and has since ancient times. But scientists who have studied its impacts offer suggestions on how to make it stop.
- Psychology
What makes a pretty face?
Beautiful faces are symmetrical and average. Do we prefer them because this makes them easier for our brains to process?
- Tech
Implant traps cancer cells on the move
A device implanted under the skin extended the life of mice with breast cancer. It trapped injected cancer cells before they created tumors in organs throughout the body.
- Health & Medicine
Simpler way to screen for hidden hearing loss?
Many teens today walk around with undiagnosed hearing damage. But some Boston-based researchers have come up with a low-tech approach to screening these individuals so they can get help.
- Health & Medicine
‘Ringing’ in the ears may signal serious ear damage
A persistent ringing in the ears, also known as tinnitus, has become common in teens — and may point to eventual, permanent hearing loss.
- Health & Medicine
Milking chocolate for its health benefits
Researchers figure out how to give milk chocolate the same health benefits as dark chocolate. The secret ingredient is an extract from peanut skin.
