Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Studying cheese reveals how microbes interact
Microbiologist Rachel Dutton uses cheese rinds to study how microbes form communities.
- Animals
Male giant water bugs win females by babysitting
Female giant water bugs prefer males already caring for eggs, an evolutionary force for maintaining parental care.
- Animals
Male giant water bugs win females by babysitting
Female giant water bugs prefer males already caring for eggs, an evolutionary force for maintaining parental care.
- Neuroscience
Evidence conflicts on iron’s role in Parkinson’s disease
Experiments yield conflicting results about whether vulnerable nerve cells have too much or too little iron.
- Health & Medicine
This week in Zika: Haiti hit early, possible monkey hosts, and more
A new test for Zika, how Haiti fits into the outbreak timeline, a look at monkeys that can carry the virus, and more in this week’s Zika Watch.
- Plants
Nightshade plants bleed sugar as a call to ants for backup
Bittersweet nightshade produces sugary wound goo to lure in ant protectors that eat herbivores, researchers have found.
- Animals
Dragons sleep like mammals and birds
Some lizards may sleep in the same way as mammals and birds, a new brain wave study finds.
- Neuroscience
Ions may be in charge of when you sleep and wake
The recipe for sleep and wake may depend on ions.
- Animals
Chemical behind popcorn’s aroma gives a bearcat its signature scent
Bearcats smell like popcorn. Now scientists now why: The chemical responsible for popcorn’s alluring scent has been found in bearcat pee.
- Animals
Peacocks twerk to shake their tail feathers
Researchers reveal the biomechanics of the peacock mating dance.
- Neuroscience
Words’ meanings mapped in the brain
Language isn’t just confined to one region of the brain: The meaning of words spark activity all over the cerebral cortex.
- Animals
How animal poop could be key in solving echidna mystery
The western long-beaked echidna hasn’t been seen in Australia in 10,000 years. But DNA in scat could reveal its presence.
