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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Plants

    Watch live plant cells build their cell walls

    Imaging wall-less plant cells every six minutes for 24 hours revealed how the cells build their protective barriers.

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  2. Physics

    Calls to restart nuclear weapons tests stir dismay and debate among scientists

    Many scientists say “subcritical” experiments and computer simulations make nuclear weapons testing unnecessary.

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  3. Animals

    You might be reading your dog’s moods wrong

    A dog's physical cues often take a back seat to environmental ones, skewing humans' perceptions, a small study suggests.

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  4. Neuroscience

    Parrots and humans share a brain mechanism for speech

    Brain activity in vocalizing budgerigar parrots showed a pattern that harkened to those found in the brains of people.

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  5. Animals

    Narwhals may use their iconic tusks to play

    Videos show narwhals using their tusks in several ways, including prodding and flipping a fish. It’s the first reported evidence of the whales playing.

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  6. Science & Society

    It’s ‘personal.’ What the Stand Up for Science rally meant for attendees

    Stand Up for Science rallies in Washington, D.C., and across the United States drew crowds of people worried about cuts to scientific funding.

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  7. Physics

    The sound of clapping, explained by physics

    The “Helmholtz resonator” concept explains the frequencies of sound produced by clapping the hands together in different configurations.

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  8. Animals

    In a first, zebra cams reveal herds on the move with giraffes

    Six zebras wore video cameras attached to collars, capturing the equines’ daily life. Sticking with giraffes may let the two species protect each other.

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  9. Animals

    Wild baboons don’t recognize themselves in a mirror

    In a lab test, chimps and orangutans can recognize their own reflection. But in the wild, baboons seemingly can’t do the same.

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  10. Animals

    Cricket frogs belly flop their way across water

    Cricket frogs were once thought to hop on the water’s surface. They actually leap in and out of the water in a form of locomotion called porpoising.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Lethal snake venom may be countered by new AI-designed proteins 

    The current way to produce antivenoms is antiquated. Experiments in mice suggest that an artificial intelligence approach could save time and money.

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  12. Tech

    Flying cars could soon become a reality

    Engineers have all the technology they need to make flying cars, but there are still some barriers to getting these sci-fi mainstays off the ground.

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