Uncategorized

  1. Ecosystems

    Ocean plankton held hostage by pirate viruses

    The most abundant photosynthesizers on Earth stop storing carbon when they catch a virus.

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  2. Neuroscience

    Abnormal sense of touch may play role in autism

    Autism-related genes are important for touch perception, a sense that may help the brain develop normally, a study of mice suggests.

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  3. Life

    Refined ‘three-parent-baby’ procedure improves chances for healthy infant

    Improved technique could reduce risk of passing on faulty mitochondria.

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  4. Chemistry

    Four newest elements on periodic table get names

    Four elements officially recognized in December, highlighted in yellow, now have names that honor Japan, Moscow, Tennessee and physicist Yuri Oganessian.

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  5. Life

    Obesity’s weight gain message starts in gut

    Acetate made by gut microbes stimulates weight gain, research in rodents suggests.

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  6. Anthropology

    Hobbit history gets new preface

    Jaw, tooth fossils put new spin on evolution of Homo floresiensis.

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  7. Life

    By leaking light, squid hides in plain sight

    Glass squid camouflage their eyes with wonderfully inefficient bioluminescence.

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  8. Astronomy

    Space-based probe passes tests for gravitational wave detection

    The LISA Pathfinder mission has demonstrated that future observatories in space could detect gravitational waves.

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  9. Earth

    Spy satellites reveal early start to Antarctic ice shelf collapse

    Declassified spy satellite images reveal that Antarctica’s Larsen B ice shelf began destabilizing decades earlier than previously thought.

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  10. Environment

    Bikini Atoll radiation levels remain alarmingly high

    Lingering radiation levels from nuclear bomb tests on Bikini Atoll are far higher than previously estimated.

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  11. Quantum Physics

    Quantum weirdness survives space travel

    Quantum weirdness travels from Earth to space and back again.

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  12. Animals

    Pygmy blue whales deepen their moans

    Sri Lankan pygmy blue whales are tweaking their calls — making one part deeper and keeping another part the same — but scientists can’t say why. The finding injects a new wrinkle in theories about blue whale calls.

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