Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Environment
Decline in birds linked to common insecticide
In addition to harming bee populations, neonicotinoid insecticides may also be detrimental to bug-eating birds.
- Life
Ocean microbes orchestrate gene activity
The bacteria’s daily cycles aren’t just for photosynthesis, a new study suggests.
- Life
Fiber optics in mammals’ eyes separate colors
Specialized cells in the retina separate different wavelengths of light to enable sharp vision during the day without harming night vision.
- Health & Medicine
Two genes clear up psoriasis and eczema confusion
Psoriasis and eczema are often mistaken for each other, leading to mistreatment. Testing just two genes could eliminate this confusion.
- Life
Gecko adhesion takes electric turn
Challenging a favored theory, measurements suggest that electrostatic interactions make gecko feet supersticky.
- Health & Medicine
Yet another reason to hate ticks
Ticks are tiny disease-carrying parasites that should also be classified as venomous animals, a new study argues.
- Paleontology
Duck-billed dinosaurs roamed the Arctic in herds
Young and old duck-billed dinosaurs lived together in herds in the Arctic, tracks preserved in Alaska indicate.
- Paleontology
Fossils reveal largest airborne bird
Despite its massive size, an extinct bird may have been an efficient glider.
- Environment
Microplastics lodge in crab gills and guts
Crabs can absorb microplastic particles through their gills and by eating polluted mussels.
- Ecosystems
If you really hate a species, try eating it
Dining on invasive fish such as snakehead and lionfish can reduce their numbers, but we can’t entirely eat our way out this problem.
- Climate
Meat-eaters’ greenhouse gas emissions are twice as high as vegans’
Meat-eaters dietary GHG emissions are twice as high as those of vegans, a study finds.
- Animals
Dead-ant wall protects young spider wasps
Bone-house wasps probably use a barrier of deceased insects to guard against predators.
