Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    Will groom for snuggles

    Sooty mangabey and vervet monkey mothers charge a price, dictated by market forces, that other females must pay to touch their babies.

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  2. Life

    Genome may be mostly junk after all

    A cross-species comparison suggests that more than 90 percent of the DNA in the human genome has no known function.

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  3. Life

    Central dogma of genetics maybe not so central

    In thousands of genes, RNA frequently fails to accurately transcribe DNA.

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  4. Life

    Supersizing pumpkins

    Engineers gain insight into the extreme growth of gargantuan gourds.

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  5. Life

    1000 Genomes pilot a hit with geneticists

    The first stage of a project to probe human genetic diversity has found millions of new variations.

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  6. Life

    Bee mystery not over yet

    News reports overstate recent findings.

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  7. Paleontology

    India yields fossil trove in amber

    Insect remains suggest the continent hosted a surprisingly wide variety of creatures 50 million years ago.

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  8. Life

    Why flies can drink and drink

    Fruit flies use sophisticated pumps to suck fluids as thick as syrup.

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  9. Animals

    Doing the wet-dog wiggle

    Hairy animals have evolved to shed water quickly by shaking at the optimal speed for their size.

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  10. Animals

    Wolverine: Climate warming threatens comeback

    BLOG: New data point to unexpected sociability and filial behavior in carnivore.

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  11. Life

    Gene therapy for depression

    Researchers were able to reduce pathological behaviors in mice by delivering genetic material to a particular brain region.

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  12. Life

    Splices of time

    Organisms distinguish day and night by shifting the way genes are interpreted.

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