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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Environment

    How air pollution may make it harder for pollinators to find flowers

    Certain air pollutants that build up at night can break down the same fragrance molecules that attract pollinators like hawk moths to primroses.

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  2. Animals

    Does this drone image show a newborn white shark? Experts aren’t sure

    If a claim of the first-ever sighting of a newborn white shark holds, it could help solve a mystery of where adult white sharks give birth.

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  3. Animals

    Parrots can move along thin branches using ‘beakiation’

    The movement involves swinging along the underside of branches with their beaks and feet, similar to how primates swing between trees.

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  4. Life

    Insects flocking to artificial lights may not know which way is up

    Insects may use light to figure out where the ground is. Artificial lights send them veering off course, data from high-speed infrared cameras suggests.

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  5. Animals

    What parrots can teach us about human intelligence

    By studying the brains and behaviors of parrots, scientists hope to learn more about how humanlike intelligence evolves.

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  6. Planetary Science

    NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter officially ends its mission on Mars

    NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter suffered damage during a recent flight and has ended its mission on Mars after nearly three years on the Red Planet.

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  7. Physics

    What happens when lawn sprinklers suck in water? Physicists answer that quirky question

    Experiments with a floating sprinkler and laser-illuminated microparticles revealed the surprisingly complex physics behind a simple question.

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  8. Life

    Some honeybees in Italy regularly steal pollen off the backs of bumblebees

    New observations suggest that honeybees stealing pollen from bumblebees may be a crime of opportunity, though documentation of it remains rare.

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  9. Climate

    Numbats are built to hold heat, making climate change extra risky for the marsupials

    New thermal imaging shows how fast numbats’ surface temperature rises even at relatively reasonable temperatures.

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  10. Physics

    Invisible comet tails of mucus slow sinking flakes of ‘marine snow’

    New measurements reveal the gunk that surrounds the particles, an important factor in understanding how the ocean sequesters carbon.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Flint grapples with the mental health fallout from the water disaster

    The water crisis started almost a decade ago. Residents of Flint, Mich., are still healing from the disaster — and caring for their own.

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  12. Animals

    How hummingbirds fly through spaces too narrow for their wings

    Using high-speed cameras, a new study reveals Anna’s hummingbirds turn sideways to shimmy through gaps half as wide as their wingspan.

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