Life
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Warning to bats: Cuddle not
Ecologist Kate Langwig of Boston University and her colleagues want Eastern bats to listen up: No more cuddling — at least during hibernation. Just keep those wings to yourselves.
By Janet Raloff - Life
Space trek may help worms live long
After 11 days in orbit, nematodes showed signs of slower aging.
- Life
All dinosaurs may have had feathers
Well-preserved fossil sports long, fine plumage and a bushy tail.
By Meghan Rosen - Animals
Climate adaptation may be a family affair
Newborn coral reef fish can cope with changed water conditions if their parents have already adjusted.
By Janet Raloff - Animals
Mosquitoes Remade
Scientists reinvent agents of illness to become allies in fight against disease.
By Susan Milius - Genetics
Convenience shoulders tomato taste aside
Decades of breeding for uniform color in unripe fruit may accidentally have reduced flavor.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Dinosaur debate gets cooking
A key piece of evidence for cold-blooded dinosaurs, growth lines in bones, has also been discovered in a set of warm-blooded animals.
By Meghan Rosen - Humans
Lead poisoning stymies condor recovery
California’s iconic comeback species may need human help as long as even a small percentage of the carcasses they eat contain lead shot.
By Susan Milius -
- Life
Second of two blocked flu papers released
Held back for months by a U.S. government biosafety board, the research pinpoints five mutations that render the potent H5N1 virus transmissible through air.
- Life
New frontiers for coyotes may bring more Lyme disease
Forget the deer. Maybe it's coyotes on the move that can explain the recent increase in Lyme disease.
By Susan Milius - Life
Peacocks ruffle feathers, make a rumble
New recordings reveal that male birds use infrasound, emitting low-pitch sounds detected by peers but inaudible to human ears.
By Susan Milius