Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Genetic switch makes old mice forgetful
Reversing a chemical change restored the animals’ memory-making ability.
- Life
Neandertal genome yields evidence of interbreeding with humans
After years of looking, geneticists are shocked to find that 1 percent to 4 percent of DNA in people from Europe and Asia is inherited from Neandertals.
- Life
Undereducated immune cells get aggressive with HIV
Scientists discover a mechanism that makes some people resistant to infection with the AIDS virus.
- Life
One ocean, four (or more) killer whale species
Killer whales may be at least four species, a new study of mitochondrial DNA shows.
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- Earth
Wringing hope from crashing biodiversity
Biodiversity losses have not slowed despite a treaty designed to protect variety in the natural world.
- Physics
Reverse engineering a quantum compass
Physicists propose a method that could explain how birds’ magnetic-sensing organs work.
- Animals
Aphids make their own bright colors
The insects’ ancestors adapted fungal DNA for manufacturing vital compounds.
- Life
DNA comparison of identical twins finds no silver bullet for MS
The first study of its kind suggests an unknown environmental cause for multiple sclerosis, but future research could still yield a genetic trigger.
- Paleontology
Dinos molted for a new look
In one species, adolescents appear to have sprouted a new type of feathers as they matured.
- Ecosystems
Forests on the wane
Early last decade, the world’s tree coverage dropped by more than 3 percent.
- Health & Medicine
Baby’s calcium might play defining role in adult bone health
Calcium makes bones strong. But a new animal study suggests that to do this, ample calcium may need to be available from birth. Too little in the early weeks of life may reprogram certain stem cells – those in the marrow – in ways that permanently compromise bone structure. Perhaps even fostering osteoporosis.
