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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

More Stories in Slideshow

  1. Life

    From viruses to elephants, nature thrives on tiled patterns

    A compilation of 100 examples of biological tilings shows how repeated natural motifs enhance strength, flexibility and other key functions.

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  2. Artificial Intelligence

    As teens in crisis turn to AI chatbots, simulated chats highlight risks

    From blaming the victim to replying "I have no interest in your life" to suicidal thoughts, AI chatbots can respond unethically when used for therapy.

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  3. Planetary Science

    New Horizons visited Pluto 10 years ago. We’re still learning from it

    Over the past decade, researchers have been puzzling through Pluto’s mysteries. Meanwhile, the New Horizons probe heads for interstellar space.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    See how the herpesvirus reshapes our cells’ DNA in just eight hours

    New imaging tools reveal how within an hour of infection, the virus begins to alter our chromosomes to kick-start its own replication.

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  5. Astronomy

    Two spacecraft created their first images of an artificial solar eclipse

    The Proba-3 spacecraft succeed at creating solar eclipses, kicking off a two-year mission to study the sun’s mysterious outer atmosphere, the corona.

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  6. Animals

    50 years after ‘Jaws,’ sharks face their own terror

    Humans have driven sharks and their cousins to the brink of extinction. The health of the entire ocean is at stake.

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  7. Animals

    This spider’s barf is worse than its bite

    Most spider species subdue dinner by injecting venom from their fangs. Feather-legged lace weavers swathe prey in silk, then upchuck a killing brew.

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  8. Animals

    Ancient poems document the decline of the Yangtze finless porpoise

    The porpoise is critically endangered. Ancient Chinese poems reveal the animal’s range has dropped about 65 percent over the past 1,400 years.

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  9. Humans

    Ancient horse hunts challenge ideas of ‘modern’ human behavior

    An archaeological site in Germany suggests communal hunting and complex thinking emerged earlier in human evolution than once thought.

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