Life
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Math
Test decodes dolphins’ math skills
Dolphins could use mental math to locate prey in clouds of bubbles.
By Meghan Rosen - Life
Study shows where identical twins part ways
By birth, genetic doubles are already using their DNA differently.
- Life
Insulin may be Big Antler hormone
Extra sensitivity to the hormone in certain developing tissues might give animals their oversized weapons and ornaments.
By Susan Milius -
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- Life
Skinny searchers keep fat ants full
By controlling movement out of an ant nest, researchers discover that ants weigh tubbiness in deciding who hunts for food.
By Meghan Rosen - Life
Young flies cannibalize the plump
An evolutionary biologist’s modest proposal shocks colleagues who thought they knew everything about their favorite laboratory organism.
By Susan Milius - Life
Blog: Arsenic-based life gets even more toxic
With a pair of new papers, scientists have driven two more stakes through the heart of a controversial research finding that its authors won’t let die.
- Paleontology
Not your typical pterosaur
A beautifully preserved fossil from Germany displays a wing unlike any ever seen.
By Janet Raloff - Life
Trout nose cells follow magnetic fields
Iron-rich tissue may be at root of a biological compass.
By Devin Powell - Life
Egg production after birth questioned
A study finds no evidence of stem cells in adult mouse ovaries, suggesting female mammals really are born with all the gametes they’ll ever have.
- Microbes
Killing with the flip of a switch
A single genetic transformation turns mild-mannered bacteria into assassins.