Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Cosmology

    A cosmic quandary, risks of hatching early and more reader feedback

    The cosmos, tadpole escape artists, vehicle collisions and more in reader feedback.

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  2. Ecosystems

    Shrinking sea ice threatens natural highways for caribou, plants

    As Arctic sea ice declines, Peary caribou or plants risk getting stranded when their frozen highways thaw.

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  3. Plants

    ‘The Long, Long Life of Trees’ takes readers on a walk in the woods

    The Long, Long Life of Trees explores the scientific, historical and cultural significance of apple, birch, elm and 14 other kinds of trees.

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  4. Neuroscience

    Brain’s physical structure may help guide its wiring

    The brain’s stiffness helps dictate how nerve cells grow, a study suggests.

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  5. Genetics

    To study Galápagos cormorants, a geneticist gets creative

    To collect DNA from four cormorant species, this scientist called in bird scientists far and wide.

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  6. Oceans

    First U.S. ocean monument named in the Atlantic

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

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  7. Animals

    Frog-hunting bats have ‘cocktail party effect’ workaround

    Test with robotic frogs finds bats that hunt amphibians switch their attention to other clues if outside noise masks the mating chorus.

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  8. Life

    Rattlesnakes have reduced their repertoire of venoms

    The most recent common ancestor of today’s rattlesnakes had a huge set of toxin-producing genes. Modern rattlesnake species have independently ditched some of these genes.

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  9. Animals

    Hawaiian crows ace tool-user test

    The almost-extinct Hawaiian crow joins the small, select flock of birds shown to use sticks tools routinely and well to wiggle bits of food out of crevices.

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  10. Life

    Color vision strategy defies textbook picture

    Cone cells in the retina see in black and white and color.

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  11. Animals

    Sandboxes keep chicken parasites at bay

    Fluffing feathers in sand and dust prevents severe mite infections in cage-free hens.

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  12. Animals

    Kauai’s native forest birds are headed toward extinction

    Kauai’s honeycreepers are losing their last refuges from mosquito-borne diseases that are spreading due to climate change. Some could become extinct within a decade.

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