Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
Single exodus from Africa gave rise to today’s non-Africans
Genetics and climate studies differ on when modern humans left Africa.
- Life
Aneil Agrawal unites math and mess
Evolutionary geneticist Aneil Agrawal is equally at home with real and hypothetical fruit flies.
- Neuroscience
Jessica Cantlon seeks the origins of numerical thinking
Cognitive neuroscientist Jessica Cantlon wants to find out how humans understand numbers and where that understanding comes from.
- Humans
Lawrence David’s gut check gets personal
Computational biologist Lawrence David regularly opens himself to new scientific challenges, including tracking his own microbiome.
- Neuroscience
Jeremy Freeman seeks to simplify complex brain science
As a group leader at the Janelia Research Campus, Jeremy Freeman is equal parts neuroscientist, computer coder and data visualization whiz.
- Oceans
Melissa Omand’s clever tech follows the fate of ocean carbon
Drawn to the water early, oceanographer Melissa Omand now leads research cruises studying how carbon and nutrients move through the seas.
- Life
How one scientist’s gut microbes changed over a year
Computational biologist Lawrence David chronicled changes in his gut microbes for a year.
- Cosmology
A cosmic quandary, risks of hatching early and more reader feedback
The cosmos, tadpole escape artists, vehicle collisions and more in reader feedback.
- 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.
- 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.
- Neuroscience
Brain’s physical structure may help guide its wiring
The brain’s stiffness helps dictate how nerve cells grow, a study suggests.
- 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.
