Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Nicotine exposure escalates rats’ desire for alcohol
Rats drink more alcohol after they’ve been hooked on nicotine.
- Plants
From lemons to kumquats, roots of citrus variety dug up
Citrus fruits’ lineage is traced through chloroplast DNA, revealing both maternal and paternal heritage.
- Health & Medicine
Genes may influence placebo effect
Certain gene variants may predispose people to experience the placebo effect, which may have implications for clinical trials and personalized medicine.
- Neuroscience
Marijuana component fights epilepsy
A buzz-free extract of marijuana could help epilepsy patients whose seizures resist other treatments.
- Plants
Plants suck in nicotine from nearby smokers
Peppermint plants can build up nicotine from tobacco dropped on their soil or smoked indoors.
- Science & Society
The Angelina effect should be about knowing your cancer risk
Angelina Jolie’s public message about her medical decisions related to cancer is about knowing your risks for disease, not hers.
- Neuroscience
Serotonin and the science of sex
Some scientists say that low serotonin makes male mice mate with males and females. Others disagree. In the end, it’s not about sexual preference, but about how science works.
- Genetics
Mountain gorilla genome reveals inbreeding
Mountain gorillas are highly inbred, with good and bad consequences.
- Paleontology
Fossil reveals terror bird’s power
Bones of a new terror bird confirm the creatures used their beaks to hatchet their prey but also raise questions about what drove the birds extinct.
- Paleontology
Tyrannosaurs fought and ate each other
Evidence from a tyrannosaur skull and jaw fossils add to the argument that the ancient reptiles fought and weren’t above scavenging their own.
- Genetics
Contagious cancer found in clams
A soft-shell clam disease is just the third example of a contagious cancer.
- Animals
Tiny sea turtles are swimmers, not drifters
Young green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles moved in different directions than instruments set adrift in the sea, which shows the animals were swimming.
