Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Paleontology

    The Age of Dinosaurs may have ended in springtime

    Fossilized fish bones suggest that the massive asteroid strike at the end of the Cretaceous Period occurred during the Northern Hemisphere’s spring.

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  2. Genetics

    Africa’s oldest human DNA helps unveil an ancient population shift

    Long-distance mate seekers started staying closer to home about 20,000 years ago.

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  3. Paleontology

    Fossils show a crocodile ancestor dined on a young dinosaur

    The 100-million-year-old fossil of a crocodile ancestor contains the first indisputable evidence that dinosaurs were on the menu.

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  4. Animals

    How lizards keep detachable tails from falling off

    A hierarchical structure of micropillars and nanopores allows the tail to break away when necessary while preventing it from easily detaching.

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  5. Genetics

    Gene therapies for sickle cell disease come with hope and challenges

    Pediatrician Erica Esrick discusses existing sickle cell treatments and an ongoing clinical trial.

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  6. Animals

    A diamondlike structure gives some starfish skeletons their strength

    Electron microscope images of knobby starfish’s calcite skeletons reveal an unexpected architecture that compensates for the mineral’s brittleness.

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  7. Paleontology

    Fossils reveal what may be the oldest known case of the dino sniffles

    A respiratory infection that spread to air sacs in the vertebrae of a 150-million-year-old sauropod likely led to now-fossilized bone lesions.

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  8. Genetics

    How the Human Genome Project revolutionized understanding of our DNA

    Completion of the Human Genome Project was a huge milestone, but there’s more work to do to ensure equitable access to the information in our DNA.

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  9. Genetics

    How one scientist aims to boost Black people’s representation in genetic datasets

    Through information sharing, geneticist Tshaka Cunningham wants to build trust and encourage more Black people to engage with the medical community.

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  10. Paleontology

    Fossils reveal that pterosaurs puked pellets

    Fish scale–filled pellets found by two pterosaurs are the first fossil evidence the flying reptiles regurgitated undigestible food, like some modern birds.

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  11. Animals

    Deep-sea Arctic sponges feed on fossilized organisms to survive

    Slow-moving sponges, living deep in the Arctic Ocean where no currents deliver food, scavenge a carpet of long-dead critters.

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  12. Plants

    Earth may have 9,200 more tree species than previously thought

    Estimating how many tree species are on Earth is an important step for forest conservation and protecting biodiversity.

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