Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    Genetics redraws marsupial family tree

    A new analysis traces the group’s origin to South America.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    ‘Housekeeping’ proteins may set aging limit

    Aging cells may seal their fate by keeping worn-out proteins when they sprout offspring.

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  3. Math

    Swarming locusts impossible to predict

    A mathematical analysis shows that random factors underlie the insects’ movements across the landscape.

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  4. Plants

    Explosions, mushroom clouds — all good for short moss

    BLOG: Sphagnum reproduces with a bang that compensates for life so close to the ground.

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  5. Ecosystems

    Frogs leapt before they landed

    Jumping preceded mastery of the touchdown in amphibian evolution, a new study suggests.

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  6. Paleontology

    Oldest dog debated

    A fossil jaw may, or may not, come from the oldest known example of man’s best friend.

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  7. Ecosystems

    Gut first

    A crawling caterpillar’s gut moves forward before the rest of its body does.

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  8. Animals

    Fearless tadpoles give invaders the edge

    Clueless larvae don’t heed the scent of nonnative turtles, giving newcomers an edge over native species, a European study finds.

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  9. Life

    Stuck in the past

    Reprogrammed stem cells retain molecular memories of their former identities, two new studies show.

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  10. Life

    This won’t hurt a bit

    A new technology delivers vaccines through a Band-Aid–like patch.

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  11. Life

    Animal sperm arose once

    A gene governing production of male reproductive cells goes back to a common ancestor that lived about 600 million years ago, a study finds.

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  12. Chemistry

    Smelling the menu

    Mouse breath triggers special cells in the nose that help send a safe-to-eat message.

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