Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Plants
Smart plants can teach us a thing or two
‘The Revolutionary Genius of Plants’ challenges the brain-centered view of intelligence.
- Life
Here’s how clumps of honeybees may survive blowing in the wind
Honeybees clumped on trees may adjust their positions to keep the cluster together when it’s jostled by wind, a new study suggests.
- Genetics
A recount of human genes ups the number to at least 46,831
A new estimate of the number of human genes adds in some RNA-producing genes.
- Ecosystems
Confused mayflies wreak havoc on a Pennsylvania bridge
Cleaning a river in central Pennsylvania brought back mayflies, which now pose a threat to motorists crossing a bridge.
- Animals
‘Poached’ offers a deep, disturbing look into the illegal wildlife trade
In ‘Poached,’ a journalist reports from the front lines of the illegal wildlife trade and shows how conservationists are fighting back.
- Tech
This flying robot could reveal secrets of the aerial world of insects
A new winged robot with the exceptional agility of a fruit fly could lend insight into animal flight.
- Neuroscience
Brain features may reveal if placebo pills could treat chronic pain
Researchers narrow in on how to identify people who find placebos effective for treating persistent pain.
- Neuroscience
How obesity may harm memory and learning
In obese mice, immune cells chomp nerve cell connections and harm brainpower.
- Science & Society
Before it burned, Brazil’s National Museum gave much to science
When Brazil’s National Museum went up in flames, so did the hard work of the researchers who work there.
- Animals
These songbirds violently fling and then impale their prey
A loggerhead shrike that skewers small animals on barbed wire gives mice whiplash shakeups.
- Agriculture
How plant microbes could feed the world and save endangered species
Scientists have only scratched the surface of the plant microbiome, but they already believe it might increase crop yield and save species from extinction.
- Genetics
German skeletons hint that medieval warrior groups recruited from afar
Graveyard finds may come from an ancient European warrior household with political pull.
