Animals
Could a whale swallow a person whole?
In the movie Whalefall, a sperm whale accidentally swallows a scuba diver. It’s technically possible, but unlikely to play out in real life.
Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Life
- Paleontology
A choir of katydid ancestors filled the Jurassic rainforest with song
An analysis of sound-making structures on preserved wings reveals the mating calls of ancient Jurassic insects, re-creating part of an ancient soundscape.
- Paleontology
Was the ‘American cheetah’ a cheetah at all?
Ancient DNA confirms Miracinonyx trumani was more closely related to modern pumas than cheetahs and had a more varied diet than previously thought.
- Neuroscience
Migraine drugs are getting more precise. Choosing the right one is still tricky
Migraine prevention drugs are more targeted than ever before, and new guidelines may help doctors predict which will work for each patient.
- Animals
These worms move faster when you give them less space
California blackworms can squeeze through narrow channels faster than they can wriggle across wide ones, a finding that may help with robot design.
- Science & Society
To nap or not to nap? Science is still waking up to the question
Many people struggle to sleep enough at night. Surprisingly, science cannot say if adding in a nap to sleep in two blocks is healthy.
- Health & Medicine
Your skin chemistry may affect which mosquitoes most want to bite you
Three species preferred different people based on their skin odor and bacteria. The findings could help make new microbe-based repellants.
- Animals
Monkeys hunt small animals when fruit is scarce
Capuchins hunt and eat small vertebrates more often as plant foods wane. The behavior may help us learn more about humans’ early dietary evolution.
- Paleontology
Once upon a time, insects had 24 legs
A many-legged oddball from long ago helps fill a major gap in the fossil record — and hints at how insects ended up with just six legs.
- Neuroscience
How memories may survive hibernation
Hibernating mice rapidly lost and regrew half of the connections in their memory centers, while key connection hubs survived.
