Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
A naturalist recounts birds’ lives in the Scottish Highlands
In Gods of the Morning, a naturalist chronicles how birds and other wildlife withstand the changing seasons in the Scottish Highlands
- Animals
‘Prehistoric Predators’ is a carnival of ancient dinosaurs, mammals and more
A new children’s book offers gorgeous illustrations and information for everyone about ancient carnivores.
- Life
Extinction in lab bottle was a fluke, experiment finds
Extinction in a bottle was a random catastrophe, not survival of the fittest.
- Neuroscience
Whistled language uses both sides of the brain
Unlike spoken words, language made of whistles processed by both sides of the brain.
- Animals
Seeing humans as superpredators
People have become a unique predator, hunting mostly adults of other species.
- Plants
What fairy circles teach us about science
Science can’t yet tell us how fairy circles form, but that’s not a failure for science.
- Genetics
Gene thought to cause obesity works indirectly
Researchers have discovered a “genetic switch” that determines whether people will burn extra calories or save them as fat.
- Life
Experimental MERS vaccine shows promise
An experimental vaccine against the MERS virus triggers immune protection, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Stiff cellular environment links obesity to breast cancer
Obesity may directly support tumor growth by making a cell’s surroundings stiffer.
- Health & Medicine
‘Vomiting device’ sounds gross but it helps study infections
Scientists created a “vomiting device” to study how norovirus spreads through the air.
- Animals
Hummingbird tongues may work like micropumps
Hummingbird tongues work as elastic micropumps instead of simple thin tubes, researchers say in latest round of a scientific debate.
- Animals
Another tiny frog species found in sky islands of Brazil
Another new species of miniature frog has been discovered amongst the leaf litter in the high cloud forests of southern Brazil.
