Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Archaeology
How Asian nomadic herders built new Bronze Age cultures
Ancient steppe herders traveled into Europe and Asia, leaving their molecular mark and building Bronze Age cultures.
- Animals
Coconut crabs are a bird’s worst nightmare
A biologist witnesses a coconut crab taking out a blue-footed booby and documents the balance of the animals in an Indian Ocean archipelago.
- Animals
These spiders may have the world’s fastest body clocks
Three orb-weaving spiders may have the shortest circadian clocks yet discovered among animals.
- Animals
The Lord Howe stick insect is officially back from the dead
New genomic sequencing confirms that stick insects discovered near Lord Howe Island are the assumed-extinct Lord Howe stick insect.
- Anthropology
Ancient European farmers and foragers hooked up big time
Interbreeding escalated in regionally distinct ways across Neolithic Europe.
- Animals
This deep-sea fish uses weird eyes to see in dark and light
The eyes of deep-sea fish called pearlsides contain cells that look like rods but act like cones.
- Animals
Crested pigeons sound the alarm with their wings
Crested pigeons have specialized feathers that signal danger when they flee from an apparent threat.
- Animals
Honeybees fumble their way to blueberry pollination
Blueberry flowers drive honeybees to grappling, even stomping a leg or two down a bloom throat, to reach pollen.
- Neuroscience
See these first-of-a-kind views of living human nerve cells
A catalog of live brain cells reveals stunning diversity and intricate shapes, and may help scientists understand the abilities of the human brain.
- Animals
EPA OKs first living pest-control mosquito for use in United States
Feds approve non-GM male tiger mosquitoes for sale as fake dads to suppress local pests.
- Genetics
Scientists replaced 80 percent of a ‘butterfly’ boy’s skin
By correcting genes in stem cells and growing new skin in the lab, a new therapy repaired a genetic skin disease.
- Health & Medicine
Human study supports theory on why dengue can be worse the next time around
The amount of dengue antibodies leftover in the blood may up the chances of a severe second dengue infection, a study finds.
