Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Paleontology
Dinosaur feathers may have been more birdlike than previously thought
Feather proteins can change during fossilization, raising questions about what dinosaur feathers really can tell us about feather evolution.
- Plants
Berkley Walker wants to revamp photosynthesis for a changing climate
Finding ways to make plants work better could help feed a growing population, especially as the planet warms.
- Genetics
These 8 GMOs tell a brief history of genetic modification
Since the first genetically modified organism 50 years ago, GMOs have brought us disease-resistant crops, new drugs and more.
- Animals
How sea anemones living on deep-sea hydrothermal vents avoid metal poisoning
The anemone Alvinactis idsseensis dominates its toxic environment thanks to an unusual number of genes geared toward protecting cells from heavy metals.
- Genetics
Most of today’s gene therapies rely on viruses — and that’s a problem
The next big strides in gene therapy for rare diseases may come from CRISPR and new approaches to delivery.
- Life
10 billion snow crabs have disappeared off the Alaskan coast. Here’s why
In the eastern Bering Sea, the snow crab population plummeted after a marine heat wave in 2018. The crabs may have starved, a new study finds.
- Animals
Scientists debunked a long-standing cicada myth by analyzing their guts
The lack of obvious chewing mouthparts may have made casual observers think that adult cicadas don’t need to feed. But that’s not the case.
- Life
The inside of a rat’s eye won the 2023 Nikon Small World photo contest
The annual competition puts the spotlight on science and nature in all its smallest glory.
- Animals
In a first, genetically modified silkworms produced pure spider silk
An effort to engineer silkworms to produce spider silk brings us closer than ever to exploiting the extraordinary properties of this arachnid fiber.
- Neuroscience
What a look at more than 3,000 kinds of cells in the human brain tells us
A wide-reaching look at the cells that build the brain, detailed in 21 studies, showcases the brain’s cellular diversity and clues about how it works.
- Life
Ants may be the first known insects ensnared in plastic pollution
At this point, it’s unclear whether this type of trash harms insects, but the discovery highlights the ubiquity of plastic pollution in the wild.
- Animals
Gene editing can make chickens resistant to bird flu
Chickens genetically modified to be impervious to avian influenza may one day prevent the spread of the disease on farms, a study suggests.
