Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Like brain cells, kidney cells can form memories
Scientists found memory’s molecular machinery at work in cells outside the nervous system.
- Paleontology
China’s famously rich dinosaur fossil beds get a new origins story
Cave-ins and floods may have buried the Cretaceous creatures of the fossil Jehol Biota rather than volcanic eruptions, a new study claims.
- Health & Medicine
Dengue is classified as an urban disease. Mosquitoes don’t care
Infectious diseases are often labeled “urban” or “rural.” Applying political labels to public health misses who is at risk, experts argue.
- Animals
For adult chimps, playing may be more important than previously thought
A multiyear study of dozens of wild, adult chimps suggests that play helps reduce tension and boost cooperation among individuals.
- Life
Nature’s first fiber optics could light the way to internet innovation
Mineral crystals in heart cockles’ shells protect symbiotic algae from ultraviolet rays and could lead to innovations in internet infrastructure.
- Neuroscience
Some people don’t have a mind’s eye. Scientists want to know why
The senses of sight and sound are usually mingled in the brain, but not for people with aphantasia.
- Oceans
The world’s largest coral was discovered in the South Pacific
The behemoth coral, discovered in October in the Solomon Islands, is longer than a blue whale and older than the United States.
- Animals
Stray DNA is all around us. It could revolutionize conservation
Environmental DNA harvested from the ocean, land and air can help scientists monitor wildlife. The challenge is figuring out how to interpret this eDNA.
- Health & Medicine
A twisted protein sheds light on chronic wasting disease in deer
The detailed structure of a misfolded protein from a diseased deer could help explain why the disease hasn’t made the leap to humans.
- Genetics
A common drug may help treat a rare genetic disease
Ibuprofen counters problems caused by mutations in the MAN1B1 gene, fruit fly tests show. Early results in three children are ”fairly positive.”
- Animals
Bees flying near cars are dying by the millions, a roadkill study suggests
Scientists in Utah put sticky traps on car bumpers to tally how many bees get hit on a typical trip. The broader toll is immense, they estimate.
- Animals
Putting vampire bats on treadmills reveals an unusual metabolism
A bat gym shows that vampires are more like some insects, burning amino acids from blood proteins rather than the carbs or fats other mammals rely on.
