Humans
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BrainOut-of-whack body clock causes more than sleepiness
When the body’s “clock” doesn’t match the cues its getting from outside, people can feel bad. Researchers are using math to explain this “circadian-time sickness.”
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BrainTeen brains may have an advantage — better learning
The teen brain is infamous for prizing rewards and encouraging risky behavior. But their reward-driven behavior may help those teens learn some things better than adults.
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BrainZombies are real!
Some parasites worm their way into other creatures’ brains and alter their victims’ behavior. Meet zombie ants, spiders, cockroaches, fish and more.
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ClimateHow fossil fuel use threatens kids’ health
A children’s health expert says kids suffer more than any other group from the many impacts of fossil fuel burning.
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HumansBig Viking families got away with murder
The most deadly Vikings came from families that were big enough to discourage revenge.
By Bruce Bower -
Health & MedicineSurprise! Most ‘color vision’ cells see only black or white
Cone cells in the eye’s retina can see black, white or color. The black and white ones may create sharp outlines and edges that color-sensing cones then fill in like parts of a coloring page.
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ClimateGlobe’s non-Africans all descend from a single move out of Africa
Look back far enough and everybody’s ancestors were African no more than 72,000 years ago. Climate scientists would up that date to perhaps 100,000 years ago.
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Health & MedicineWhat is IQ — and how much does it matter?
Studies reveal that intelligence — and success in life — depend on more than what IQ tests measure.
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Health & MedicinePokémon no! Playing the popular game while driving is risky
Dangerous moves: Over a recent 10-day period, tens of thousands of people were playing Pokémon Go while driving — and tweeting about it.
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Health & MedicineNobel awarded for unveiling how cells recycle their trash
Cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for discovering how cells take care of housekeeping.
By Meghan Rosen and Laurel Hamers -
ChemistryWhy trans fats became a food villain
Trans fats are now known as a dietary villain. But in the beginning, scientists thought they were better than butter.
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Health & MedicineMeasles in the Americas: Going, going — gone!
The Americas have at last shed a major childhood scourge: measles. The viral infection used to kill hundreds of children each year. Now the hemisphere only sees cases spread by travelers.
By Meghan Rosen