Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Ecosystems
Planting trees could buy more time to fight climate change than thought
Earth has nearly a billion hectares suitable for new forests to start trapping carbon, a study finds.
- Genetics
This gene may help worms live longer, but not healthier
Antiaging therapies may have trade-offs, research on worms suggests.
- Life
Spraying bats with ‘good’ bacteria may combat deadly white nose syndrome
Nearly half of bats infected with white nose syndrome survived through winter after being spritzed with antifungal bacteria, a small study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Tiny glasses help reveal how praying mantises can see in 3-D
Newfound nerve cells in praying mantises help detect different views that each of the insects’ eyes sees, a mismatch that creates depth perception.
- Animals
Southern right whale moms and calves may whisper to evade orcas
Mother-calf whale pairs call to each other quietly to stay in touch while avoiding attracting the attention of predators, a study suggests.
- Paleontology
An ancient bird found encased in amber had a bizarrely long toe
A 99-million-year-old fossil holds a bird with an oddly long toe, which might have helped the critter hook hard-to-reach dinners.
- Neuroscience
Both fish and humans have REM-like sleep
Sleeping zebrafish have brain and body activity similar to snoozing mammals, suggesting that sleep evolved at least 450 million years ago.
- Oceans
A mysterious coral disease is ravaging Caribbean reefs
Scientists are racing to learn what’s behind a disease that’s “annihilating” whole coral species in hopes of stopping it.
- Neuroscience
A 100-hour MRI scan captured the most detailed look yet at a whole human brain
Researchers report ultraprecise imaging of a postmortem human brain.
- Animals
Ground beetle genitals have the genetic ability to get strange. They don’t
A new look at the genetics of sex organs finds underpinnings of conflicts over genital size.
- Ecosystems
Moonlight shapes how some animals move, grow and even sing
The moon’s light influences lion prey behavior, dung beetle navigation, fish growth, mass migrations and birdsong.
- Planetary Science
Readers wanted to know about asteroids, lithium batteries and more
Readers had questions and comments about asteroids, lithium batteries, and pyroclastic flows.
