Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Paleontology
New dinosaur sported a curious set of chompers
Matheronodon provincialis, a newly described dinosaur, munched on tough plants with big scissors for teeth.
- Animals
Climate change may threaten these bamboo-eating lemurs
Longer dry spells and more nutrient-poor bamboo might eventually doom the greater bamboo lemur, a critically endangered species.
- Climate
As ice retreats, frozen mosses emerge to tell climate change tale
Plants long entombed beneath Canadian ice are now emerging, telling a story of warming unprecedented in the history of human civilization.
- Paleontology
T. rex’s silly-looking arms were built for slashing
Tyrannosaurus rex may have used its small arms for slashing prey.
- Genetics
New CRISPR gene editors can fix RNA and DNA one typo at a time
New gene editors can correct common typos that lead to disease.
- Life
Nanoscale glitches let flowers make a blue blur that bees can see
Bees learn about colorful floral rings faster when nanoscale arrays aren’t quite perfect.
- Life
A new material may one day keep mussels off piers and boat hulls
Mussels don’t stick to a new lubricant-infused silicone material.
- Genetics
Inbreeding hurts the next generation’s reproductive success
Inbreeding has evolutionary consequences for humans.
- Genetics
Mating with Neandertals reintroduced ‘lost’ DNA into modern humans
Neandertal DNA brought back some old genetic heirlooms to modern humans.
- Life
How bird feeders may be changing great tits’ beaks
Longer beaks may be evolving in U.K. great tits because of the widespread use of bird feeders in the country.
- Genetics
Resurrecting extinct species raises ethical questions
'Rise of the Necrofauna' examines the technical and ethical challenges of bringing woolly mammoths and other long-gone creatures back from the dead.
- Genetics
Doubling up on ‘junk DNA’ helps make us human
DNA duplicated only in humans may contribute to human traits and disease.
