Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Electronic ‘tattoos’ offer an alternative to electrodes for brain monitoring
A standard EEG test requires electrodes that come with pitfalls. A spray-on ink, capable of carrying electrical signals, avoids some of those.
- Animals
Giant hornets have been sighted in Europe for the first time
Four southern giant hornets have turned up in Spain. Similar stingers, known for honeybee attacks, had the Pacific Northwest on edge a few years ago.
- Animals
Videos capture orcas’ tricks for taking down the largest fish on Earth
Citizen science videos document for the first time how orcas coordinate an attack against whale sharks.
- Science & Society
This ‘hidden figure’ of entomology fought for civil rights
Margaret S. Collins, the first Black American female entomologist to earn a Ph.D., overcame sexism and racism to become a termite expert.
- Neuroscience
Like brain cells, kidney cells can form memories
Scientists found memory’s molecular machinery at work in cells outside the nervous system.
- Paleontology
China’s famously rich dinosaur fossil beds get a new origins story
Cave-ins and floods may have buried the Cretaceous creatures of the fossil Jehol Biota rather than volcanic eruptions, a new study claims.
- Health & Medicine
Dengue is classified as an urban disease. Mosquitoes don’t care
Infectious diseases are often labeled “urban” or “rural.” Applying political labels to public health misses who is at risk, experts argue.
- Animals
For adult chimps, playing may be more important than previously thought
A multiyear study of dozens of wild, adult chimps suggests that play helps reduce tension and boost cooperation among individuals.
- Life
Nature’s first fiber optics could light the way to internet innovation
Mineral crystals in heart cockles’ shells protect symbiotic algae from ultraviolet rays and could lead to innovations in internet infrastructure.
- Neuroscience
Some people don’t have a mind’s eye. Scientists want to know why
The senses of sight and sound are usually mingled in the brain, but not for people with aphantasia.
- Oceans
The world’s largest coral was discovered in the South Pacific
The behemoth coral, discovered in October in the Solomon Islands, is longer than a blue whale and older than the United States.
- Animals
Stray DNA is all around us. It could revolutionize conservation
Environmental DNA harvested from the ocean, land and air can help scientists monitor wildlife. The challenge is figuring out how to interpret this eDNA.
