Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Bees may merge their flower memories
Bumblebees sometimes prefer fake flowers with the combined patterns and colors of ones seen before, suggesting they merge memories of past experiences.
- Life
Chili peppers’ pain-relieving secrets uncovered
Scientists discover how stuff that makes chili peppers hot relieves pain.
- Animals
Some cicadas drum up a beat with the help of their wings
By using their wings as drumsticks, so-called “mute” cicadas can make themselves heard.
- Health & Medicine
Additives that keep foods fresh may sour in the gut
Additives called emulsifiers that are used in ice cream and other foods weaken the intestines’ defenses against bacteria, causing inflammation in mice.
- Life
The eyes have it: Long lashes not so lovely
Eyelashes can’t be too short or too long without ruining their aerodynamic protection.
- Health & Medicine
Stem cells from wisdom teeth could help repair corneas
A study points to a potential new treatment for corneal blindness: Stem cells extracted from pulp from pulled wisdom teeth.
- Animals
Where an ant goes when it’s gotta go
Scientists found black garden ants defecating in certain spots inside their nests. The researchers say these spots serve as ant toilets.
- Health & Medicine
For athletes, antioxidant pills may not help performance
Supplements of vitamins C, E and other antioxidants may blunt the positive effects of exercise training.
- 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.
