Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Microbes

    Spore-powered engines zoom ahead

    Engines that run on the dehydration of bacterial spores can power a tiny car and an LED.

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  2. Life

    Twisty chains of proteins keep cells oriented

    The counterclockwise twist of protein fibers jutting out from the edge of human cells allow the cells to distinguish right from left.

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  3. Genetics

    Pneumonia bacteria attacks lungs with toxic weaponry

    Some strains of the bacteria that causes pneumonia splash lung cells with hydrogen peroxide to mess with DNA and kill cells, a new study suggests.

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  4. Ecosystems

    Ocean food source lives by day, dies by night

    The most abundant carbon fixer in the oceans lives by day, dies by night, and may be key to the balance of marine ecosystems.

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  5. Neuroscience

    Alzheimer’s spares brain’s music regions

    Brain regions involved in recognizing familiar songs are relatively unscathed in Alzheimer’s disease.

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  6. Animals

    Pigs don’t deserve the name ‘Lesser Beasts’

    From ancient forests to modern farms, pigs’ relationship with humans has been symbiotic.

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  7. Life

    Aging: Nature’s way of reducing competition for resources

    Aging may have developed in many species as a genetic mechanism to conserve future resources. If the controversial proposal is true, then scientists may be able to greatly extend life span by deactivating the machinery for aging embedded in our DNA.

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  8. Animals

    Could the dinos of ‘Jurassic World’ become invasive?

    Even if they escaped their island home, the giant reptiles of ‘Jurassic World’ probably wouldn’t survive on the mainland. But the movie’s plants are another story.

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  9. Genetics

    A circadian clock transplant gives E. coli rhythm

    Clockworks from algae built into E. coli may hold future jet lag treatment.

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  10. Life

    A protein variant can provide protection from deadly brain-wasting

    If cannibalism hadn’t stopped, a protective protein may have ended kuru anyway.

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  11. Animals

    Newly discovered tiny frogs live on islands in the sky

    Scientists find seven new species of frogs in southern Brazil, and more could be waiting, they say.

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  12. Archaeology

    Bronze Age humans racked up travel miles

    A new study indicates long journeys and unexpected genetic links in Bronze Age Eurasian cultures.

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