Life

  1. Animals

    Comb jellies take root in a new tree of animal life

    A team of biologists places comb jellies, not sponges, at the base of a new tree of animal life.

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  2. Paleontology

    Salty Old Cellulose: Tiny fibers found in ancient halite deposits

    Researchers have recovered microscopic bits of cellulose from 253-million-year-old salt deposits deep underground.

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  3. Animals

    Night Flights: Migrating moths may use a nighttime compass

    Silver Y moths choose to fly when wind blows in the same direction that they migrate, and they may even compensate when the wind pushes them off-course.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Refugee Polio Scare Can Be Costly

    There can be hidden, and substantial, costs to polio outbreaks among immigrant refugees.

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  5. Ecosystems

    Refugee Policy Needs a Shot in the Arm

    Sometimes spending a little money on vaccinations up front can save a bundle down the line.

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  6. Animals

    Farm girl has the chops

    The first big family tree presenting the history of fungus-growing ants shows the leaf-cutters as the newest branch, and a very recent one at that.

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  7. Tech

    Virtual Addicts

    Logging on may become more than a choice for some young people.

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  8. Plants

    Floral Shocker: Blooms shake roots of flowering-plant family

    A tiny aquatic plant, once thought to be related to grasses, raises new questions about the evolution of the earliest flowering plants.

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  9. Animals

    Finch Concerts: Female bird brain notes male attention

    Male zebra finches sing slightly differently when serenading a female as opposed to twittering to themselves, and females react to those differences.

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  10. Animals

    Love Code: A twist of light only mantis shrimp can see

    Alone in the animal kingdom, these crustaceans signal their presence to potential mates with circularly polarized light.

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  11. Animals

    Moths’ memories

    Sphinx moths appear to remember experiences they had as caterpillars, suggesting some brain cells remain intact through metamorphosis.

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  12. Plants

    Attack of the skinny tomato

    An extra copy of one gene slims down tomatoes.

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