DAY JOB A Bajau diver, spear in hand, fishes off the coast of Indonesia. Bajau divers spend 60 percent of their diving time completely underwater, comparable to sea otters.
Melissa Ilardo
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Magazine
In the April 14 SN: Killer heat, mass insect migrations, the latest Saturn updates, rethinking the Nobel Prize, tectonics on Venus, the science of mass shootings, ancient tool trends and more.
Genes & Cells
Topic Image Rail
THE WINNER IS… In mice, norovirus invades tuft cells (the two bright green spots) in the lining of the small intestine (left) and the colon (right). Other cells in the intestines that weren’t infected (blue) are also shown.
C. Wilen et al/Science 2018
HOW SWEET Long before humans inhabited Polynesia, sweet potatoes may have been carried across the ocean from South America to the South Pacific islands by wind, water or maybe even birds.
QueSeraSera/Shutterstock
Genes & Cells
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Genetics
News
Sweet potatoes might have arrived in Polynesia long before humans
Genetic analysis suggests that sweet potatoes were present in Polynesia over 100,000 years ago, and didn’t need help crossing the Pacific.News
Birds get their internal compass from this newly ID’d eye protein
Birds can sense magnetic fields, thanks to internal compasses that likely rely on changes to proteins in the retina. -
Cells
Science Visualized
Here’s how cells rapidly stuff two meters of DNA into microscopic capsules
Scientists have figured out how cells quickly pack up their chromosomes before a cell divides.News in Brief
Mini brains may wrinkle and fold just like ours
Brain organoids show how ridges and wrinkles may form. -
Development
News
A key virus fighter is implicated in pregnancy woes
In mice, activating a key component of the body’s antiviral machinery in response to a Zika infection can cause harm to developing fetuses.News
Embryos kill off male tissue to become female
Female embryos actively dismantle male reproductive tissue, a textbook-challenging study suggests. -
Physiology
News in Brief
Larger spleens may help ‘sea nomads’ stay underwater longer
The Bajau people of Southeast Asia have a gene variant associated with larger spleens, boosting their oxygen while breath-hold diving, researchers say.News
Light pollution can prolong the risk of sparrows passing along West Nile virus
Nighttime lighting prolongs time that birds can pass along virus to mosquitoes that bite people. -
Immune Science
News
The next wave of bird flu could be worse than ever
Deadly bird flu can pass between ferrets through the air.News
When a fungus invades the lungs, immune cells can tell it to self-destruct
Immune system resists fungal infection by directing spores to their death. -
Microbiology
News
‘Nanobot’ viruses tag and round up bacteria in food and water
Viruses called phages evolved to hunt bacteria. With magnetic nanoparticles and genetic engineering, they become nanobots that work for us.Science Visualized
Meet the giants among viruses
For decades, all viruses were thought to be small and simple. But the discovery of more and more giant viruses shows that’s not the case. -
Epigenetics
News
Genes could record forensic clues to time of death
Scientists have found predictable patterns in the way our genetic machinery winds down after death.News
Proteins that reprogram cells can turn back mice’s aging clock
Proteins that reprogram adult cells to an embryonic-like state can rejuvenate prematurely aging mice. -
Molecular Evolution
Editor's NoteJumping genes are part of all that makes us human
Ask 10 people what makes humans human and you’ll probably get 10 different answers — and then some.News
Ancient enzymes adapted to a cooler Earth to keep life’s chemical reactions going
Ancient enzymes kept their speed at lower temperatures.
