Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
Melonomics: Sounds like a cancer, smells like a melon
The project that published the first melon genome dubbed itself melonomics.
- Life
Shifted waking hours may pave the way to shifting metabolism
Shift workers are at higher risk for obesity and metabolic problems. Scientists are working hard to understand why the night shift makes our hormones go awry.
- Neuroscience
‘Speed cells’ found in rats’ brains
Newly discovered “speed cells” clock rats’ swiftness.
- Animals
Feeding seabirds may give declining populations a boost
Supplementing the diets of kittiwakes with additional food might give fledglings a head start, a new study finds.
- Neuroscience
Putting time’s mysteries in order
Investigating both the orderly and disorderly dimensions of time provides the focus for a special issue of Science News.
- Earth
Bringing mammoths back, life on early Earth and more reader feedback
Readers debate the pros and cons of reviving extinct species, discuss the odd light-processing machinery of the eye and more.
- Neuroscience
Special Report: Dimensions of Time
Science News writers report on the latest scientific investigations into time’s place in the physical, biological and mental worlds.
- Neuroscience
How the brain perceives time
To perceive time, the brain relies on internal clocks that precisely orchestrate movement, sensing, memories and learning.
- Genetics
Enormous quantities may soon be called ‘genomical’
Genetic data may soon reach beyond astronomical proportions.
- Paleontology
50-million-year-old fossil sperm discovered
Ancient worm sperm preserved in 50-million-year-old cocoons from Antarctica set age record.
- Life
The origin of biological clocks
Most of Earth’s creatures keep time with the planet’s day/night cycle. Scientists are still debating how and why the circadian clocks that govern biological timekeeping evolved.
- Animals
Some animals’ internal clocks follow a different drummer
Circadian clocks in some animals tick-tock to a different beat.
