Humans

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- Tech
Therapeutic robots may soon swim within the body
Scientists are designing tiny robots that may one day do work inside the human body.
- Brain
Tongues ‘taste’ water by sensing sour
Water doesn’t taste like much, but our tongues need to detect it somehow. They may do it by sensing acid, a new study shows.
- Archaeology
DNA from African mummies tie these folk to Middle Easterners
Ancient DNA extracted from 90 Egyptian mummies reveals genetic links to Greece and the Middle East.
- Psychology
Think you’re not biased? Think again
Everyone holds some unconscious bias about certain social groups, even when they don’t mean to. Scientists are learning how people can fight such implicit biases.
- Health & Medicine
Your gut’s germs may decide whether white bread or whole wheat is best — for you
Surprise! Gut microbes may determine how your body responds to starches in the diet.
- Animals
Orangs nurse young for more than eight years!
Orangutan moms and babies have been tricky to study in the wild, so researchers used dental tests to reveal a record setting nursing period.
By Susan Milius - Physics
Scientists Say: Acoustic
Acoustic is an adjective used to describe something involving sound. It’s also a noun that refers to the branch of physics that studies sound.
- Animals
Popular pesticide may harm bee flight
In a lab experiment, honeybees flew sluggishly after eating pesticide-tainted food.
- Archaeology
European fossils may belong to earliest known hominid
New fossils suggest that the earliest non-ape human ancestors may have evolved in Europe, not Africa.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
How a flamingo balances on one leg
Flamingos are so good at balancing on just one leg that they can snooze that way with little effort.
By Susan Milius - Fossils
Study claims to have found oldest human fossils
Humans, as a species, may be much older than previously thought. They also may have evolved further North and West of the suspected cradle of human evolution.
By Bruce Bower - Chemistry
To test pill coatings, try a stomach in a flask
Which pain reliever should you buy? The tablet, gel tab or compressed caplet? A teen did an experiment to find out.