Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Animals

    Getting rid of snails is effective at stopping snail fever

    For the tropical disease snail fever, managing host populations is more effective than drugs.

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  2. Genetics

    Evolution of gut bacteria tracks splits in primate species

    Primates and microbes have been splitting in sync for at least 10 million years.

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  3. Anthropology

    Humans, birds communicate to collaborate

    Bird species takes hunter-gatherers to honeybees’ nests when called on.

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  4. Neuroscience

    Antibiotics might fight Alzheimer’s plaques

    A new study found that antibiotics hit Alzheimer’s plaques in the brains of mice.

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  5. Animals

    To douse hot hives, honeybee colonies launch water squadrons

    The whole superorganism of a honeybee colony has sophisticated ways of cooling down.

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  6. Animals

    Some primates prefer nectar with a bigger alcohol kick

    Aye-ayes and slow lorises may be able to discern the alcohol content of boozy nectar and go for more potent drinks.

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  7. Neuroscience

    New brain map most detailed yet

    By combining different types of data, researchers have drawn a new detailed map of the human brain.

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  8. Animals

    Tiny ants move a ton of soil

    For the first time, scientists have quantified how much soil ants move underground.

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  9. Genetics

    Swapping analogous genes no problem among species

    Many genes are interchangeable between yeast, bacteria, plants and humans.

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  10. Genetics

    Herbicide no match for fruit flies’ gut microbes

    Friendly gut bacteria team up to break down herbicide that might otherwise harm fruit flies.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    No one-fits-all healthy diet exists

    Mice’s response to diet varies with their genes.

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  12. Genetics

    ‘Junk DNA’ has value for roundworms

    Some “junk DNA” may be necessary to keep genes active.

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