Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Pup kidnapping has a happy ending when a seal gets two moms
A female fur seal kidnapped another seal’s pup. But this turned out to be a positive the young seal, scientists found.
- Neuroscience
Gift-giving brain cells are lifeline to injured nerve cells
After an injury, astrocytes give nerve cells a gift of mitochondria, mouse study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
This week in Zika: Revised risk, new mosquito threat, U.S. on the brink
First potential cases of locally spread Zika crop up in the continental United States, estimates of infection risk, antibodies that can fight the virus and a new mosquito species that may be able to carry Zika.
- Plants
Why a parasitic vine can’t take a bite out of tomatoes
Cultivated tomatoes fend off parasitic vines as they would microbes.
- Animals
How Houdini tadpoles escape certain death
High-speed video of red-eyed tree frog embryos reveals the secrets to their getaway plans.
- Life
Human eye spots single photons
Human eyes are sensitive enough to detect individual particles of light.
- Earth
Science finds many tricks for traveling to the past
Our editor in chief discusses what science can tell us about the past.
- Animals
Readers ponder animal flight
Readers respond to the June 11, 2016, issue of Science News with questions on cormorants, butterflies, virus-sensing genes and more.
- Life
Distinctions blur between wolf species
Red and eastern wolves might be gray wolf/coyote blends instead of distinct species
- Animals
Newly discovered big-headed ants use spines for support
Two newly discovered ant species provide new insights into spiny evolution.
- Life
The nose knows how to fight staph
A bacterium isolated from the nose produces a new antibiotic active against resistant pathogens.
- Animals
Neonicotinoids are partial contraceptives for male honeybees
Male honeybees produce less living sperm if raised on pollen tainted with neonicotinoids, tests show.
