Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Clusters of cancer cells get around by moving single file

    Clusters of cancer cells squeeze through thin blood vessels by aligning single file.

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  2. Space

    Will we know extraterrestrial life when we see it?

    Desert varnish and certain minerals hint that life — here and elsewhere — may defy current criteria.

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  3. Animals

    Scientists find a crab party deep in the ocean

    A trip to check out the biodiversity off the coast of Panama revealed thousands of crabs swarming on the seafloor.

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  4. Science & Society

    ‘House of Lost Worlds’ opens vaults of renowned natural history museum

    'House of Lost Worlds' pays homage to Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History and to the colorful scientists who made the museum great.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    This week in Zika: Assessing risk, mosquito range, a transmission first and more

    Several new reports document Zika infection in U.S. pregnant women, a case of male sexual transmission, the range of Zika-carrying mosquitoes and more.

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  6. Genetics

    Gene-edited mushroom doesn’t need regulation, USDA says

    A CRISPR-edited mushroom isn’t like other GMOs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.

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  7. Animals

    Math models predict mysterious monarch navigation

    Researchers have come up with a series of equations to predict how monarchs use their eyes and antennae to figure out how to get to Mexico.

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  8. Life

    Having worms can be good for the gut

    Parasitic worms shift gut microbes and protect against bowel disease.

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  9. Ecosystems

    Heat may outpace corals’ ability to cope

    Corals may soon lose their ability to withstand warming waters.

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  10. Genetics

    Malaria parasite doesn’t pass drug immunity to its offspring

    Malaria parasites resistant to the antimalarial drug atovaquone die in mosquitoes, a new study finds.

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  11. Animals

    Pied flycatchers cruise nonstop for days to cross the Sahara

    Teeny, tiny passerine birds called pied flycatchers fly day and night during their annual migration south across the Sahara.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Zika’s role as a cause of severe birth defects confirmed

    A new analysis from the Centers for Disease control and Prevention confirms that Zika virus infection causes microcephaly and other severe birth defects.

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