Life

Sign up for our newsletter

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Paleontology

    Pterosaurs weren’t all super-sized in the Late Cretaceous

    A 77-million-year-old flying reptile may be the smallest pterosaur of the Late Cretaceous.

    By
  2. Animals

    As IUCN votes on ivory trade, elephants’ future looks bleak

    As the IUCN prepares to debate an end to the ivory trade, two new reports show just how poorly Africa’s elephant species are faring.

    By
  3. Animals

    Tiny structures give a peacock spider its radiant rump

    Peacock spiders use pigments and complex nanostructures to achieve bright dance costumes.

    By
  4. Neuroscience

    Brain training can alter opinions of faces

    Covert neural training could shift people’s opinions of faces.

    By
  5. Life

    Scientists watch as bacteria evolve antibiotic resistance

    A giant petri dish exposes the evolutionary dynamics behind antibiotic resistance.

    By
  6. Life

    Fossils hint at India’s crucial role in primate evolution

    Ancient fossils from coal mine in India offer clues to what the common ancestor of present-day primates might have looked like.

    By
  7. Genetics

    Genetic surgery is closer to reality

    A molecular scalpel called CRISPR/Cas9 has made gene editing possible.

    By
  8. Health & Medicine

    Readers contemplate aging research

    Aging research, dino guts and Earth's quasisatellite in reader feedback.

    By
  9. Oceans

    Fish escapes from marine farms raise concerns about wildlife

    Farmed salmon, sea bass and other fish frequently escape from sea cages into the ocean. Will these runaways harm native wildlife?

    By
  10. Paleontology

    Preteen tetrapods identified by bone scans

    Roughly 360 million years ago, young tetrapods may have schooled together during prolonged years as juveniles in the water.

    By
  11. Paleontology

    Jurassic ichthyosaur dubbed ‘Storr Lochs Monster’ unveiled

    A rare, 170-year-old skeleton discovered in Scotland is one of the best-preserved ichthyosaur fossils from the Middle Jurassic.

    By
  12. Microbes

    Microbial matter comes out of the dark

    Undiscovered bacteria challenge what scientists know about microbial life.

    By