Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Ebola vaccine performs well in U.K. human trial

    A vaccine that protects against the Zaire strain of Ebola turns in promising preliminary results from a human trial.

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  2. Science & Society

    Smell circuitry, stalled stem cells and more reader feedback

    Readers discuss a journal's publishing practices, ask about the human sense of smell and weigh in on their favorite picks from our Top 25 stories of the year.

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  3. Animals

    Highway bridge noise disturbs fish’s hearing

    In the lab, blacktail shiners had trouble hearing courtship growls over Alabama bridge traffic recordings.

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  4. Animals

    Ant-eating bears help plants

    A complex web of interactions gives a boost to rabbitbrush plants when black bears consume ants.

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  5. Neuroscience

    Immune system may remember and adapt to stress

    Mice without immune systems who receive stressed immune cells are less anxious and more social, suggesting that the immune system can adapt to stress.

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  6. Animals

    Chameleon tongue power underestimated

    A South African chameleon species can shoot its tongue with up to 41,000 watts of power per kilogram of muscle involved, a new study finds.

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  7. Ecosystems

    ‘Earth: A New Wild’ puts people in the picture

    PBS nature series ‘Earth: A New Wild’ shows humans living with, and not off, their environments

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  8. Paleontology

    Snakes crawled among Jurassic dinosaurs, new timeline says

    Earliest snake fossils provide evidence snakes evolved their flexible skulls before their long, limbless bodies.

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  9. Neuroscience

    Two sets of neurons turn thirst on and off

    A study in mice reveals that two neural groups in the hypothalamus drive the body’s need to quench or not to quench.

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  10. Science & Society

    Big data studies come with replication challenges

    As science moves into big data research — analyzing billions of bits of DNA or other data from thousands of research subjects — concern grows that much of what is discovered is fool’s gold.

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  11. Life

    Fast and furious: The real lives of swallows

    In the fields of Oregon, scientists learn flight tricks from swallows.

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  12. Life

    Flying animals can teach drones a thing or two

    Scientists have turned to Mother Nature’s most adept aerial acrobats — birds, bees, bats and other animals — to inspire their designs for self-directed drones.

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