Tag: human
Human Gut Bacteria Can Gather Up PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’
Human Gut Bacteria Can Gather Up PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ When tested on their own and in mice, these bacterial strains from the human microbiome show promise in accumulating PFAS By Nora Bradford edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Gut microbiome bacteria from humans can absorb PFA. Lurking in our nonstick pans, our rain jackets and even…
Countries must protect human right to a stable climate, court rules
Costa Rica-based inter-American court of human rights says states have obligation to respond to climate change There is a human right to a stable climate and states have a duty to protect it, a top court has ruled. Announcing the publication of a crucial advisory opinion on climate change on Thursday, Nancy Hernández López, president…
First Human Genome from Ancient Egypt Sequenced from 4,800-Year-Old Teeth
4,800-Year-Old Teeth Yield First Human Genome from Ancient Egypt Forty years after the first effort to extract mummy DNA, researchers have finally generated a full genome sequence from an ancient Egyptian, who lived when the earliest pyramids were built By Ewen Callaway & Nature magazine The Ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom (2686–2125 B.C.) produced many lasting…
First Near-Complete Denisovan Skull Reveals What This Ancient Human Cousin Looked Like
First Near-Complete Denisovan Skull Reveals What This Ancient Human Cousin Looked Like A Denisovan skull has been identified for the first time. The find was based on proteins and calcified dental plaque By Dyani Lewis & Nature magazine A reconstruction of the hominin source of the ‘Dragon Man’ cranium in his habitat. The fossil has…
Nuclear Weapon Strike Decisions Could Come Down to Human Suggestibility
In Deciding to Launch a Nuclear Strike, Humans Are Shockingly Suggestible Surveys show that how nuclear strike options are presented strongly influences the decision a president may make By Sarah Scoles edited by Clara Moskowitz Thermonuclear Detonation 1967 Pacific Proving Grounds. No one has launched a nuclear weapon in war since 1945, when U.S. president…
El Salvador arrest prominent human rights lawyer
Eyder Peralta López has been an outspoken critic of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. She and her organization have documented human rights abuses in El Salvador — including inhumane conditions in jails and the extended state of emergency, during which the government has suspended many constitutional rights and imprisoned tens of thousands of suspected gang members…
Venezuela accuses El Salvador of human trafficking as prisoners caught in row between authoritarians
Nayib Bukele offered to exchange 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador for 252 prisoners in Venezuela Venezuela’s chief prosecutor has accused El Salvador’s president of being a “tyrannical” human trafficker after Nayib Bukele offered to exchange the 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to his country’s prisons by Donald Trump for the same number of political…
Bonobo Calls Are More like Human Language Than We Thought
Bonobos’ Complex Calls Share an Extraordinary Trait with Human Language Bonobos’ grunts, peeps and whistles may share an advanced linguistic property with human language By Cody Cottier edited by Allison Parshall We humans concoct never-before-heard sentences with ease, embedding phrases within phrases to express the wildest ideas we can dream up (“the purple pangolin that…
News spotlight: Report warns of growing human toll as planet warms
Last year was the hottest on record — sparking major climate disasters across the globe. More than 150 “unprecedented” heatwaves, floods and storms left a trail of destruction that included lost lives, destroyed infrastructure and decimated crops, Damian Carrington reported for The Guardian. A record 800,000 people were displaced and left without a home as…
Human rights groups rebuke Kristi Noem’s visit to El Salvador prison: ‘political theater’
Homeland security chief went to infamous prison holding deported Venezuelans as White House targets immigrants Human rights organizations on Thursday denounced the visit by the US homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, to the notorious prison in El Salvador that is holding hundreds of Venezuelans deported from the US earlier this month without a hearing, calling…
New Bird Flu Strain in Cows and Animal Infections Raise Concern for Human Exposure
The Latest on Bird Flu Strains and Sick Zoo Animals Scientists have reported a new strain of bird flu in Nevada dairy cattle. And viral spread in pet cats has fueled worries over increased risk of exposure to humans By Tanya Lewis edited by Lauren J. Young Join Our Community of Science Lovers! We’re covering…
Expert: Rollbacks of environmental protections imperil nature — and human health
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, countries around the world have been shrinking or eliminating areas set aside to protect nature — some to drill for fossil fuels, others for urban development. Yet the environmental rollbacks that some governments claim could help humanity recover economically from the coronavirus could put humanity more at risk of future…
Whale Songs Follow Basic Human Language Rules
Whale Songs Obey Basic Rules of Human Languages Humpback whales learn their haunting melodies in much the same way humans learn words By Cody Cottier edited by Andrea Thompson John Natoli/Getty Images For all the world’s linguistic diversity, human languages still obey some universal patterns. These run even deeper than grammar and syntax; they’re rooted…
Bonobos Can Tell When a Human Doesn’t Know Something
Bonobos Can Tell When a Human Doesn’t Know Something An experiment shows that bonobos can understand when a human lacks knowledge and point them in the right direction By Jack Tamisiea edited by Gary Stix Female bonobo. A few captive bonobos recently faced a seemingly simple task: locate a tasty snack hidden under one of…
AI Is Too Unpredictable to Behave According to Human Goals
Opinion AI Is Too Unpredictable to Behave According to Human Goals AI “alignment” is a buzzword, not a feasible safety goal By Marcus Arvan edited by Ben Guarino In late 2022 large-language-model AI arrived in public, and within months they began misbehaving. Most famously, Microsoft’s “Sydney” chatbot threatened to kill an Australian philosophy professor, unleash…
Wildfires Started by Human Activities Are Often More Destructive
Wildfires Started by Daily Human Activities Are Often More Destructive Fast-moving fires, such as the recent ones in the Los Angeles area, and those started by humans, whether accidentally or not, are often some of the most destructive By Virginia Iglesias & The Conversation US Fire engines drive through flames ripping across Highway 36 as…
‘I felt less human, not human at all’: Australia faces moral crossroads over Nauru
Who is accountable for what happens in an offshore processing centre? It’s remarkable this is still a question in Australia Aarash lost his youth to offshore processing. Sixteen when he was sent to Nauru, he says he cannot remember a single birthday in more than a decade. “When I see younger ones that age, having…
First Human Bird Flu Death in U.S. Reported—How Worried Should We Be?
What Does First U.S Bird Flu Death Tell Experts about Disease Severity? Louisiana has reported the first U.S. fatality from avian influenza. Most of the country’s human cases have been mild By Tanya Lewis edited by Dean Visser The first human death in the U.S. from the H5N1 avian influenza virus was reported this week.…
What Is Human Metapneumovirus, and Why Are Cases Rising in China?
HMPV Cases Are Rising Across Asia, but Experts Say Not to Panic A common respiratory virus called human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, has been spreading in some countries in Asia, including China, India, Malaysia and Kazakhstan. Here’s what we know By Lauren J. Young edited by Dean Visser Human metapneumovirus particles. Cases of a common respiratory…
Legal aid cuts deny parents their human rights, says ex-supreme court president
Exclusive: David Neuberger believes lack of access to state-funded lawyers for family disputes is ‘wrong in principle’ The former president of the supreme court has said parents are being deprived of their human rights by having to fight for contact with their children without lawyers. David Neuberger said legal aid cuts to family cases were…
A dawn stand-off, a human wall and a failed arrest: S Korea enters uncharted territory
The stand-off started long before dawn. By the time we arrived in the dark, an army of police had pushed back suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol’s angry supporters, who’d camped out overnight hoping to stop his arrest. Some of those I spoke to were crying, others wailing, at what they feared was about to unfold.…
Could AI robots replace human astronauts in space?
On Christmas Eve, an autonomous spacecraft flew past the Sun, closer than any human-made object before it. Swooping through the atmosphere, Nasa’s Parker Solar Probe was on a mission to discover more about the Sun, including how it affects space weather at Earth. This was a landmark moment for humanity – but one without any…
Doctors without biodiversity? New plan prescribes actions linking human health, nature
If you read only the news headlines, you’d have learned that last month’s global summit on biodiversity — known as “COP16” — was not a success: “COP16 fizzles out as rich countries block global nature fund” “The COP16 biodiversity summit was a big flop for protecting nature” “COP16 ends in disarray and indecision despite biodiversity breakthroughs”…