Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Paleontology
Hippo history extracted from fossil teeth found in Kenya
Fossilized teeth from the newly identified Epirigenys lokonensis, an ancestor of the hippopotamus, are filling in some of the mammoth mammal’s history.
- Life
Gene study digs into partnership between fungi and plants
Fungal genes for symbiotic relationship with plants evolved a few times, and relatively recently, a study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Early peanut exposure can reduce likelihood of allergy
In many infants at risk of developing a peanut allergy, early and steady exposure to peanut butter prevents it, a new study finds.
- Ecosystems
Bubonic plague was a serial visitor in European Middle Ages
Outbreaks of Black Death in medieval Europe may have been triggered by faraway weather patterns and hungry gerbils.
- Health & Medicine
Chronic stress can wreak havoc on the body
Scientists are shedding light on all the ways that chronic stress can boost inflammation and lead to serious health problems.
- Health & Medicine
Six ways to beat chronic stress
Counseling, mindfulness training and purposeful social contact may counteract the effects of chronic stress.
- Animals
Five surprising animals that play
No one is shocked to find playful behavior in a cat, dog or other mammal. But scientists have documented play in plenty of other species, including reptiles and insects.
- Animals
Flamboyant old bustards keep showing off
Among outrageously flirtatious birds called houbara bustards, old males may pay a penalty for years of extreme display.
- Psychology
Gene variant may foretell success in program for at-risk kids
Disruptive children with DNA twist show biggest turnaround with 10-year intervention.
- Ecosystems
Bluebird moms inadvertently fuel wars between species
Extra hormones delivered to eggs holding sons in tough times end up driving one bluebird species to chase off another
- Animals
Ocean animals have bulked up since ancient eras
Marine animals today are much larger on average than they were in the Cambrian Period.
- Animals
Cliff swallow breeding thwarted by bird version of bedbugs
A 30-year study of cliff swallows in Nebraska finds that the birds will abandon nests, rather than have a second brood, when their homes are infested with swallow bugs.
