Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Engineered hookworms could one day dispense drugs from inside your gut
In a first, researchers genetically modified hookworms. It’s a step toward turning the parasites into living pharmacies.
- Paleontology
Frozen squirrel poop hints at sights and smells of Ice Age ecosystems
DNA preserved in ancient scat reveals what Yukon ground squirrels ate and what animals shared their world.
- Animals
These birds clack their wing bones together to woo mates at night
During courtship, male scissor-tailed nightjars crack their wings together to make a sharp snapping sound. It's the result of colliding arm bones.
- Paleontology
Some pterosaurs may have boasted bold iridescence
A new analysis of a 120-million-year-old fossil suggests at least one pterosaur species shimmered in iridescent greens and magentas.
- Animals
Honeybees and shrimp are now getting vaccinated
A shrimp vaccine for commercial use could protect the environment and prove vaccines aren’t just for vertebrates.
- Animals
This tiny, blue octopus is new to science
The deep-sea octopus is fully mature despite fitting in a palm, a trait researchers think may help it reproduce faster than larger relatives.
- Animals
Bumblebees can solve problems on their own
With no training, bumblebees can work out how to use a ball like a ladder to feed on sugar from an out-of-reach flower.
- Animals
A secret to making a queen bee may lie in the wax around it
Queen-cell wax helps shape honeybee queen development, challenging the idea that royal jelly alone makes a queen, a new study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Curbing Congo’s Ebola outbreak is hampered by unknowns about the virus
Answers to key questions could help public health officials develop Ebola treatments, predict the outbreak’s trajectory and prevent a future one.
- Archaeology
Ötzi the Iceman’s remains yielded ‘viable’ yeasts in the lab
The cold-loving yeasts from Ötzi’s remains suggest the Iceman’s microbiome may not be completely frozen in time.
- Neuroscience
A tiny part of your brain may still listen under anesthesia
Tones, oddball sounds and words can spark brain cell responses, hinting at nuanced processing without consciousness.
- Animals
Homing pigeons may use a surprising navigation mechanism
How animals navigate by Earth's magnetic field is hotly debated. New research in pigeons points to iron-laden liver immune cells as the compass.
