Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Animal origins shift to comb jellies
Genetic data confirm the marine predators have more ancient origin than simpler sponges.
- Paleontology
Fleshy comb is first found on a dinosaur
A fossil head has both a duck bill and a soft-tissue crest, scientists suggest.
- Animals
Lizard breath has surprising birdlike flow
Decades of assumptions may be wrong about the evolution of reptile lungs.
- Life
Dietary changes affect gut microbes within a day
Menu restricted to meat, egg and cheese alters bacterial mix more than eating only plants.
- Animals
Leaping land fish avoids predators by blending in
The Pacific leaping blenny avoids being eaten by predators by blending into its rocky habitat.
- Neuroscience
Lighting up the lightning speed of vesicle formation
While the release of neurotransmitters from vesicles is speedy, we always thought vesicle formation was slow. It turns out that vesicle formation can zip along much faster than we thought.
- Neuroscience
Brain chip enables injured rats to control movements
Prosthesis bypasses damaged area to connect distant neurons.
- Animals
Grizzly bears get stressed from salmon decline
Grizzlies in coastal British Columbia bulk up on salmon in the fall, but they experience stress when the fish are scarce.
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- Ecosystems
Online map tracks forest shifts from space
By layering more than 650,000 satellite images onto a Google map, researchers have created a new tool to track forest cover.
- Animals
Dazzle camouflage may fool a locust
The bold zig-zag patterns that adorned naval ships during the world wars also appear in nature and may bewilder locusts, a new study suggests.
- Life
H7N9 flu still better adapted to infect birds over humans
The proteins from the avian flu appear better suited for attaching to bird, not human, molecules.
