Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

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  1. Neuroscience

    Autism may carry a benefit: a buffer against Alzheimer’s

    Brain plasticity of people with autism may protect them from Alzheimer’s disease, scientists propose.

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  2. Life

    Tibetans live high life thanks to extinct human relatives

    DNA shared by modern-day Tibetans and extinct Denisovans suggests people picked up helpful genes through interbreeding with other hominids.

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  3. Life

    Stem cell papers retracted

    Researchers who reported easy method for making stem cells admit mistakes mar their work, and have retracted their papers from Nature.

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  4. Genetics

    Finally, some solid science on Bigfoot

    DNA analysis finds no Bigfoot, no yeti, two weird bears and one scientist on a quest for the truth.

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  5. Ecosystems

    Invasive insect tied to shrinking river

    A river in North Carolina shrank after a hemlock woolly adelgid eradicated eastern hemlock trees in the region.

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  6. Life

    Near reefs, microbial mix dictated by coral and algae

    A reef’s dominant organism, coral or algae, may determine what kind of bacteria live there.

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  7. Neuroscience

    A mutated bacterial enzyme gobbles up cocaine

    Cocaine is highly addictive, and those attempting to quit often relapse. Modifications to an enzyme that breaks down cocaine could help prevent abstinence setbacks.

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  8. Animals

    Emperor penguin population could decline by 2100

    Emperor penguins’ reign over Antarctic sea ice could be in decline by the beginning of the 22nd century.

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  9. Neuroscience

    Shaking up the body may improve attention

    Just two minutes of whole body vibrations improved young adults’ attention to detail.

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  10. Life

    One lichen is actually 126 species and counting

    One supposedly well-known tropical lichen could really be several hundred kinds.

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  11. Neuroscience

    Alzheimer’s disease may come in distinct forms

    Mouse experiments, if confirmed in people, imply that Alzheimer’s disease treatment should be personalized.

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  12. Animals

    Why great white shark sightings are good news

    Conservation measures implemented in the 1990s halted a decline in great white sharks in the Atlantic.

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