Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Public tantrums defeat monkey moms too
Rhesus macaque moms are more likely to give in to screaming babies when bystanders are watching and reacting
- Life
Aphids support symbionts with borrowed DNA
Aphids borrowed at least two genes from bacterial buddies, and those genes now support another bacterium that lives in the insects.
- Health & Medicine
Study finds plenty of apparent plagiarism
Featured blog: A data-mining program looks for and finds plagiarism among scientific papers. The researchers survey the papers' writers and editors.
- Agriculture
Gut bacteria ally with Bt
A new study finds that a particular microbe makes caterpillars susceptible to the insecticide.
- Ecosystems
Fish shrinkage reversible, but better hurry
In an experiment, scientists show that, although it takes generations, fish can rebound from evolutionary pressures created by selective harvesting, which has pushed some populations to become small and slow-growing.
- Paleontology
Dinosaur handprints reveal birdlike arm anatomy
Inward-facing palms evolved much earlier than previously recognized, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
One protein mediates damage from high-fructose diet
A study in mice suggests that a liver protein mediates the harmful effects of consuming too much fructose, an increasingly common aspect of Western diets.
- Life
Gene links autism, bellyaches
Researchers have uncovered a genetic link between autism and gastrointestinal disorders in some families.
- Life
Prions complicit in Alzheimer’s disease
A study in mice suggests a version of prion proteins, which are known to cause the brain-wasting mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases, may also play a role in neuron malfunction.
- Life
New stegosaur is quite a stretch
A newly discovered stegosaur has neck proportions like those of sauropods.
- Animals
Climate change discourages second families
Birds out of sync with local baby food supply of caterpillars aren’t nesting a second time.
- Life
Tastes like metal
Scientists have discovered that proteins that help sense sweet and spice also help taste metals.
