5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

A possible superbug-slayer made of garlic and a revealing military study on suicide make the list:

• Stone Age Sex Quiz Shows Ladies Reproduced More Than Men: For every 17 women who reproduced during the Stone Age, just one man did the same. Researchers analyzed DNA of 450 people from geographically diverse locations, and what they found shows there might have been a 1% that held all the cards in ancient times, too.
• And Now Some Possible Bad News for Modern-Day Sperm: Pesticides coating our produce may be tied to lower semen quality, per a new Harvard study; they could also decrease the number of sperm and ejaculate volume. Scientists aren't advising people to stop noshing on fruits and veggies altogether, though. A few simple tips could keep the boys in tip-top shape.

• Grim WWII Discovery on Palau Island: The remains of six Japanese WWII soldiers have been discovered in a sealed cave on the island of Peleliu, but that's probably just the start. An estimated 10,000 Japanese men were killed in a weekslong battle with US troops during the war, and the bodies of 2,600 of them were never found. The recovery task, though, is still quite dangerous.
• Garlic May Take Today's Superbugs Down: Could one of the world's oldest medical textbooks hold the secret to destroying today's antibiotic-resistant superbugs? After perusing remedies in a 9th- or 10th-century manuscript in the British Library, researchers from Nottingham University tested an old eye salve on mice infected with MRSA and found success. What's more, the ingredients are fairly common.
• Iraq, Afghanistan Deployments Don't Raise Suicide Risk: Don't blame the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq just yet for the growing number of military suicides. That's the conclusion of a new study that finds the suicide rate of troops deployed there was only a bit higher than that of troops who've served either in the US or elsewhere. The study could affect future treatment for veterans—but there are some caveats.

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