Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Bacteria flourish in favorite ecosystems on the human body
Study offers most comprehensive inventory yet of the human microbiome and a basis for understanding how those microbes affect health.
- Paleontology
Pollination in the pre-flower-power era
Scorpionflies with long-reaching mouthparts may have helped plants procreate long before blossoms evolved.
- Health & Medicine
Genome 10K: A new ark
Featured blog: Researchers are working to catalog the DNA sequences of just about every vertebrate genus.
- Animals
Textbook case of color-changing spider reopened
Female crab spiders switch colors to match flowers but may not fool their prey
- Animals
Scent of alarm identifies male bed bugs
When mistaken for females, the guys release an alarming pheromone.
- Life
Birds’ eyes, not beaks, sense magnetic fields
A new study pinpoints migratory songbirds’ magnetic compass in a specific brain region.
- Life
Three dino types may be just three dino ages
Study suggests three dinos placed in separate taxa are actually from one group at different growth stages
- Life
Spiders love sweet smell of blood perfume
For on spider species, feeding on blood-gorged mosquitoes adds charm to a mate
- Earth
Unicorn fly of the Cretaceous
An ancient fly discovered trapped in amber sports a horn atop its head and topped with three eyes.
- Life
African genetic diversity
Researchers are just beginning to explore the genetic landscape of the cradle of humanity
- Humans
A gene critical for speech
Scientists argue a newly discovered stretch of DNA essential for larynx development may have allowed the evolution of language.
- Life
Humpback whale alters song if another one sings along
Acoustical study of male songs shows first evidence of the whales responding musically to each other.
