Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Plants
Island life prompts evolution of larger plant seeds
In 40 species of plants, the island versions of seeds were larger than mainland counterparts, perhaps to keep the seeds from being lost at sea.
- Life
Drab female birds had more colorful evolution
Males weren’t the main players in evolution of sex differences in avian plumage.
- Life
Flightless birds’ history upset by ancient DNA
The closest known relatives of New Zealand’s small, flightless kiwis were Madagascar’s elephant birds, so ancestors must have done some flying rather than just drifting with continents.
- Health & Medicine
Urine is not sterile, and neither is the rest of you
Despite what the Internet says, urine does contain bacteria, a new study finds. And so does your brain, the womb, and pretty much everywhere else.
- Neuroscience
Life span lengthens when mice feel less pain
When rodents are missing a sensory protein, their metabolism revs up and they live longer.
- Life
A slow heartbeat in athletes is not so funny
Endurance athletes often experience sinus bradycardia, a slow heartbeat. A new paper shows this effect may be due to changes in the “funny channel” of the sinoatrial node.
- Life
In a surprise find, placentas harbor bacteria
Mouth bacteria make their way to the placenta. Some mixes may trigger premature birth.
- Animals
Mice really do like to run in wheels
When scientists stuck a tiny wheel out in nature, wild mice ran just as much as their captive counterparts do.
- Life
Genes gives clues to outcome of species interbreeding
Genetics provides clues to why hybrid river fish formed a subspecies but insects formed a new species.
- Ecosystems
Deep-sea trawling threatens oceans’ health
Dragging large nets along the seafloor to catch fish cuts organic matter and biodiversity in half and may threaten all of the world's underwater ecosystems.
- Animals
How an octopus keeps itself out of a tangle
The suckers on an octopus stick to just about anything, except the octopus itself. Scientists think they’ve figured out why.
- Health & Medicine
How Kawasaki disease may blow in with the wind
The origin of Kawasaki disease has been linked to farmlands in northeastern China.
