Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Health & Medicine

    Ulcer microbe changes quickly to avoid immune attack

    During the initial weeks of infection, Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers, mutates at a high rate, apparently to evade the body’s defenses.

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  2. Life

    Genetic mutation quenches quantum quirk in algae

    Studying algae that can and cannot use quantum coherence to harvest light could lead to better organic solar cells and quantum-based electronic devices.

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  3. Neuroscience

    Neurons pull together as a brain learns

    Learning and memory in rats is linked with increases in cortical oscillations, or brain cells firing off in groups, a new study shows.

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  4. Neuroscience

    Brain signal reappears after ADHD symptoms fade

    In adults who no longer have ADHD, brain synchrony appears.

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  5. Paleontology

    ‘Dinosaurs Without Bones’ gives glimpse of long-gone life

    Ichnologist Anthony J. Martin explains his research piecing together dinosaurs’ lives from footprints and other traces.

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  6. Animals

    Swimming evolved several times in treetop ants

    Certain ants living in tropical forest canopies turn out to be fine swimmers.

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  7. Animals

    Feedback

    Readers discuss mammal milk, ancient human genetics and hand washing techniques.

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  8. Animals

    It’s hard being a sea otter mom

    The energy requirements of lactation may explain why some female sea otters abandon their young.

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  9. Life

    Dinos straddled line between cold- and warm-blooded

    Tyrannosaurus rex and other dinosaurs straddled line between cold- and warm-blood, a new analysis finds.

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  10. Tech

    Exoskeleton helps paraplegic kick off World Cup

    A paralyzed person wearing a brain-controlled robotic exoskeleton has made the first kick at the 2014 soccer World Cup.

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  11. Life

    California mite becomes fastest land animal

    Despite being the size of a sesame seed, the Paratarsotomus macropalpis mite can outpace Usain Bolt and even a cheetah in terms of body lengths per second.

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  12. Genetics

    Chimp and human lineages may have split twice as long ago as thought

    New estimates of chimpanzee mutation rates suggest humans and chimps last shared a common ancestor 13 million years ago.

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