Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Animals

    Without a ban on trade in old ivory, elephant killing continues

    Samuel Wasser has been working to track down where poached ivory comes from. But to stop the killing, he says, a ban on the ivory trade is necessary.

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  2. Genetics

    Dads pass health effects of stress on to sons, mouse study finds

    In mice, males exposed to repeated psychological stress developed high blood sugar — and so did their unstressed male offspring.

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  3. Microbes

    Missing gut microbes linked to childhood malnutrition

    The right mix of gut microbes could prevent kids from succumbing to malnutrition.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Mini-stomachs brew insulin in mice

    Scientists transform stomach cells into insulin factories and grow mini-stomachs for diabetic mice.

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  5. Animals

    Chubby king penguins wobble when they waddle

    King penguins’ weight gain makes their waddle a bit wobbly, study suggests.

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  6. Humans

    Human DNA found in a Neandertal woman

    Interbreeding between humans and Neandertals happened earlier than thought, leaving traces in the Neandertal genome.

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  7. Animals

    Slow-moving nurse sharks have a metabolism to match

    The nurse shark has the slowest metabolism of any shark measured so far, a new study finds.

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  8. Life

    Memory cells enhance strategy for fighting blood cancers

    Immune therapy made more powerful with memory T cells.

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  9. Neuroscience

    Re-creating womb sounds perks preemies’ attention

    Babies born prematurely may benefit from hearing a recording of their mothers’ voices and heartbeats.

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  10. Neuroscience

    Tiny bare-bones brains made in lab dishes

    A reliable way to make standard-issue minibrains could help scientists study the human brain.

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  11. Animals

    Saving salamanders from amphibian killer may take extreme measures

    Experience from lethal Bd fungus outbreak is helping researchers defend North America’s salamander paradise from new Bsal threat.

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  12. Neuroscience

    Early exposure to signing helps deaf kids on mental task

    Deaf kids exposed to sign language from birth performed better on a task that required attention and impulse control.

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