Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

More Stories in Life

  1. Anthropology

    DNA reveals Neandertals traveled thousands of kilometers into Asia

    DNA and stone tool comparisons suggest Eastern European Neandertals trekked 3,000 kilometers to Siberia, where they left a genetic and cultural mark.

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  2. Animals

    Subway mosquitoes evolved millennia ago in ancient Mediterranean cities

    A variety of subway-dwelling mosquito seems like a modern artifact. But genomic analysis reveals the insect got its evolutionary start millennia ago.

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  3. Paleontology

    Dinosaurs were thriving before the asteroid hit, new analysis suggests

    New dating of New Mexico rocks suggest diverse dinosaurs thrived there just before the impact, countering the idea dinos were already on their way out.

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  4. Animals

    Which venomous snakes strike the fastest?

    Vipers have the fastest strikes, but snakes from other families can give some slower vipers stiff competition.

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  5. Animals

    Scientists and fishers have teamed up to find a way to save manta rays

    Thousands of at-risk manta and devil rays become accidental bycatch in tuna fishing nets every year. A simple sorting grid could help save them.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Most women get uterine fibroids. This researcher wants to know why

    Biomedical engineer Erika Moore investigates diseases that disproportionately affect women of color.

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  7. Humans

    An ancient bone recasts how Indigenous Australians treated megafauna

    A new look at cuts on a giant kangaroo bone reveal First Peoples as fossil collectors, not hunters who helped drive species extinct, some scientists argue.

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  8. Animals

    Guppies fall for a classic optical illusion. Doves, usually, do too

    Comparing animals’ susceptibility to optical illusions can show how perception evolved.

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  9. Life

    A rice weevil frozen in flight won the 2025 Nikon Small World photo contest

    From fluorescent ferns to sprawling neurons, this year’s winning photos reveal the structures and artistry of life seen through a microscope.

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