Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Space
Meteorites could have thickened primordial soup
New experiments show that extraterrestrial impacts that occurred early in our planet's history could have created the raw materials for life.
- Health & Medicine
Honeybee CSI: Why dead bodies can’t be found
Virus could explain one symptom of colony collapse.
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- Ecosystems
Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet by Oliver Morton
HarperCollins, 2008, 460 p., $28.95.
- Life
Fat cells also linked to prion infection
Disease-causing misfolded proteins at home in a growing list of tissues, organs.
- Life
Spanish Inquisition couldn’t quash Moorish, Jewish genes
Finding suggests modern history, not just prehistory, can leave a strong mark on a region’s genetic signature.
- Life
Funny smell may have split bee species
Among male bees that create their own perfume, a change in the sense of smell might mean a split in species.
- Health & Medicine
Protein found to set the heart’s cadence
Researchers have discovered a molecular metronome that sets the rhythm of the heart and blood pressure.
- Earth
Antidepressants make for sad fish
Fish may suffer substantially from even brief encounters with antidepressants, which wastewater releases into river water.
- Animals
Lizard push-ups grab attention
Nearby lizards more likely to get the message if its preceded by push-ups
- Paleontology
Bacteria may play big role in forming fossils
Bacteria can build a biofilm that preserves a tissue's structure.
- Life
Protein crucial in preventing Parkinson’s
By destroying bad mitochondria, Parkin protects cells
