science

Plague, leprosy, smallpox and other diseases didn’t jump from animals to humans when we thought. Ancient DNA is revealing where they come from and how they changed history Source link

The monster hurricane pummelling Jamaica is powered by abnormal sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean, which were made at least 500 times more likely by global warming Source link

Fibromyalgia, which causes chronic pain all over the body, is poorly understood, but two studies – made up of millions of participants – are helping us get to the roots of the condition Source link

Scientists are finding out how coffee beans are transformed when they pass through the guts of Asian palm civets in the hope of replicating the process without using animals Source link

Microbes high in Earth’s stratosphere produce pigments to protect them from UV light – so similar molecules could be biosignatures of life elsewhere in the galaxy Source link

So far, immune cells that have been engineered to kill cancers, known as CAR T-cells, haven’t worked well against solid cancers – but a study in mice suggests that could soon change Source link

When it comes to boosting mental health and even improving performance, team sports and group exercise come out on top, finds Grace Wade Source link

There are hundreds of coherent theories attempting to explain the origins of experience. Robert Lawrence Kuhn explores what they reveal about free will, artificial intelligence and life after death Source link

It has remained mysterious for millennia, but we’re finally uncovering the profound role the lymphatic system plays in everything from preventing dementia to fighting cancer Source link

When Homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbred, a genetic variation affecting red blood cells may have hindered reproduction in women who were hybrids, and this might have played a part in Neanderthals’ demise Source link