Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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- Animals
Ant lions hunt despite sealed lips
Ant lions are ferocious predators, but some of them don’t have a mouth. At least not in the usual sense.
- Animals
Mysterious neurotoxin may help flatworms kill prey
Tetrodotoxin, the deadly chemical in pufferfish, could help flatworms transform their earthworm prey into puddles of goo.
- Neuroscience
Busy brain hubs go awry in disorders, study suggests
Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders may occur when the brain’s most active hubs are damaged.
- Life
HIV hides in growth-promoting genes
The discovery that HIV can trigger infected cells to divide means scientists may need to rethink strategies for treating the virus that causes AIDS.
- Physics
Tiny silica spheres put the disco in disco clams
The electric effect in disco clams is actually the result of light scattering off tiny silica spheres.
- Animals
Lionfish dance can recruit partner for hunting
Slow but superb predators recruit pals for cooperative hunting, often striking in what looks like well-mannered turn taking.
- Life
Life began when algorithms took control
Digital storage of molecular information is the key to defining life and understanding its origin, astrobiologists say.
- Microbes
The most personal data on your phone is your microbiome
Phones carry more than your contacts and messages. They’ve got your microbiome too.
- Animals
Tiny frogs host an illusion on their backs
How dyeing dart frogs move changes how predators see the amphibians, a new study finds.
- Neuroscience
The simplest form of learning is really quite complex
Habituation, the ability to ignore irrelevant stimuli, is the simplest form of learning but may require a whole neural network.
- Life
Bacteria’s tail spins make water droplets swirl
When bacteria band together, they can turn a fairly tame drop of water into a swirling vortex.
