Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Calcium’s possible role in Alzheimer’s
A new study in mice finds that plaques associated with Alzheimer’s wreak havoc on calcium’s role in cell signaling.
- Paleontology
Soft tissue in fossils still mysterious
New research suggests modern biofilms could contaminate ancient fossils.
- Life
Nature’s chronic boozers
Tree shrews pub-crawl nightly from flower to flower for fermented palm nectar.
- Ecosystems
Nomadic ants hunt mushrooms
A species of ants not well understood surprises researchers with a nomadic lifestyle, roaming the rainforest on fungal forays.
- Ecosystems
Fish Houses
Tanked half-way houses allow people and fish to get acquainted on their own terms — and exhibit their individual personalities.
- Health & Medicine
Protein links metabolism and circadian rhythms
Scientists have known for ages that metabolism is tied to the body’s daily rhythms. Two new studies suggest how.
- Life
Choose your own splicer
Zinc-finger proteins can cut, splice or tweak a targeted gene, and a new “open source” method for making customized zinc-finger proteins aimed at specific genes will give scientists easier access to this powerful genetic tool.
- Plants
Fugitives spread bumblebee diseases
Pathogens hitchhike on commercial bees that escape from greenhouses. These escapees bring disease to wild bumblebees.
- Plants
Parasitic plant gets more than a meal
The parasitic vine known as dodder really sucks. It pierces the tissue of other plants — some of which are important crops — extracting water and nutrients needed for its own growth. But it also consumes molecules that scientists could manipulate to bring on the parasite’s demise.
- Plants
Parasite Godzilla
Parasites are small but have a big impact. An estuary study reveals that these little annoyances add up to a lot of biomass.
- Life
Magnetic sense linked to molecule
Fruit fly experiments shed light on animals’ use of Earth’s magnetic field for orientation and navigation.
- Life
The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes: And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and Their Patients
Lucy H. Spelman and Ted Y. Mashima (eds.), Delacorte Press, 2008, 312 p., $22.
