Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
To decode future anxiety and depression, begin with a child’s brain
A child-friendly brain imaging technique is just one way neuroscientist Cat Camacho investigates how children learn to process emotions.
- Plants
A special shape shift helps a shrub thrive in blistering heat
A microscope reveals an algae-like adaptation that might future-proof crop photosynthesis in extreme heat.
- Materials Science
What causes the rainbow shimmer of ammolite gems?
Ammolite gems’ fabulous colors arise from delicate assemblies of crystal plates.
- Animals
Woodpecker hammering is a full-body affair
The birds grunt like tennis pros when generating their rat-a-tat, a performance strategy that may help stabilize core muscles.
- Animals
Mosquitoes infiltrated Iceland. Will they survive the winter?
Mosquitoes have reached Iceland, a place once thought too harsh for them to survive. Climate change may play a role in this shift.
- Chemistry
A new AI technique may aid violent crime forensics
An AI tool trained on chemical signatures from corpse-eating insects may help determine time and place of death for victims of violent crimes.
- Paleontology
Nanotyrannus was not a teenaged T. rex
A new Nanotyrannus fossil suggests the diminutive dino lived alongside T. rex in the late Cretaceous Period.
- Plants
This flower smells like injured ants — and flies can’t resist it
A type of Japanese dogsbane releases a scent identical to wounded ants’ distress signal, drawing in scavenging flies that unwittingly pollinate it.
- Animals
Deep Antarctic waters hold geometric communities of fish nests
Scientists found thousands of patterned fish nests in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, boosting calls for marine protected areas.
- Artificial Intelligence
The AI model OpenFold3 takes a crucial step in making protein predictions
The open-source AI model improves transparency in predicting how proteins interact with other molecules, which could speed up drug discovery.
- Animals
Polar bears provide millions of kilograms of food for other Arctic species
A new study shows how much food polar bears leave behind — and how their decline threatens scavengers across the Arctic.
- Anthropology
DNA reveals Neandertals traveled thousands of kilometers into Asia
DNA and stone tool comparisons suggest Eastern European Neandertals trekked 3,000 kilometers to Siberia, where they left a genetic and cultural mark.
