Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Animals

    Unusual new species names of 2013

    Here are five species with tongue-twister titles.

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  2. Genetics

    Top genomes of 2013

    Scientists continue to decode the genetic blueprints of the planet’s myriad flora and fauna.

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  3. Microbes

    Microscopic menagerie

    The microbes dwelling in and on multicellular organisms should be viewed as evolutionarily inseparable from their hosts, some biologists argue.

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  4. Humans

    Mother lode

    Certain sugar molecules in human breast milk do more to foster beneficial microbes, and banish harmful ones, than they do to nourish newborns.

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  5. Microbes

    The vast virome

    When it comes to the microbiome, bacteria get all the press. But virologists are starting to realize that their subjects also do a lot more than make people sick.

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  6. Life

    Year in Review: Gift of steroids keeps on giving

    Mouse muscles stay juiced long after doping ends.

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  7. Animals

    Year in Review: Odd cicada history emerges

    Brood II returns better understood.

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  8. Animals

    Year in Review: Canine genealogy

    Competing clues confuse the story of dog domestication.

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  9. Life

    Feedback

    Readers discuss dog origins and how important a sense of scale is in science journalism.

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  10. Neuroscience

    Year in Review: Obama unveils brain initiative

    In April, the president announced an ambitious plan to reveal the human brain’s secrets.

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  11. Animals

    A year of rediscovered species

    Thousands of species go extinct each year, but at least a few are found after many years of being lost.

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  12. Neuroscience

    Bad memories fade with a short jolt

    Research illustrates the vulnerability of the brain’s information storage.

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