Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Animals

    Hot and spicy pain signals get blocked in naked mole-rats

    Naked mole-rats have a protein that interrupts pain signal.

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  2. Life

    Ocean archaea more vulnerable to deep-sea viruses than bacteria

    Deep-sea viruses kill archaea disproportionately more often than bacteria, a killing spree with important impacts on the global carbon cycle.

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  3. Paleontology

    Birds’ honks filled Late Cretaceous air

    Oldest avian voice box fossil yet discovered belonged to a ducklike bird that lived during the age of the dinosaurs.

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  4. Animals

    Painted lady butterflies’ migration may take them across the Sahara

    The migratory patterns of painted lady butterflies are largely unknown. Now scientists have found evidence that some may migrate across the Sahara.

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  5. Animals

    African elephants walk on their tippy-toes

    Pressure plates reveal how African elephants load their feet when they walk, providing clues to pachyderm podiatry problems.

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  6. Animals

    African elephants walk on their tippy-toes

    Pressure plates reveal how African elephants load their feet when they walk, providing clues to pachyderm podiatry problems.

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  7. Cosmology

    ‘Voyage of Time’ is Terrence Malick’s ode to life

    With “Voyage of Time,” director Terrence Malick brings the history of the universe — and the evolution of life on Earth — to the big screen.

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  8. Animals

    Bees take longer to learn floral odors polluted by vehicle fumes

    Car and truck exhaust mingling with a floral scent can slow down the important process of honeybees learning the fragrance of a flower.

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  9. Oceans

    Atlantic monument is home to unique and varied creatures

    A region of ocean off the coast of Cape Cod has become the first U.S. marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

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  10. Neuroscience

    Nerve cell migration after birth may explain infant brain’s flexibility

    A large group of neurons migrates into babies’ frontal lobes after birth.

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  11. Plants

    Flower lures pollinators with smell of honeybee fear

    When it comes to attracting pollinators, one flower species catches more flies with honeybees.

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  12. Animals

    Eels may not take most direct route in epic ocean-crossing spawning runs

    European eels’ epic ocean migrations to spawn may include more peculiar routes and timing than thought.

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