News
- Animals
Sea slug carries disposable penis, plus spares
A hermaphroditic gastropod sheds its penis after one use, then uncoils another.
- Health & Medicine
To develop male behavior, rats need immune cells
Research reveals unexpected role for cells called microglia in shaping the brain.
- Health & Medicine
Compound linked to IVF success
Women with high blood concentrations of anti-Müllerian hormone were more likely to conceive and give birth after in vitro fertilization.
- Health & Medicine
U.S. breast-feeding rates up
Between 2000 and 2008, the fraction of women breast-feeding babies increased, as did the fraction breast-feeding for a year.
- Humans
In research, it matters whether you’re a man or a mouse
A study that compares trauma responses of mice with those in people questions the relevance of mouse research to human disease.
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- Life
Ancestors of today’s placental mammals may never have shared the Earth with dinosaurs
A newly constructed family tree dovetails with the fossil record, but differs considerably from previous genetic studies by suggesting that placental mammals emerged after the dinosaur extinction.
- Animals
Compared with rodents, bat species carry more viruses
Viruses that can jump from animals to people may find the flying mammals a fine place to lurk.
- Life
Inflammation feeds E. coli
Inflammation, normally a defense against microbes, may become counterproductive in the gut by feeding disease-causing bacteria.
- Archaeology
A king’s final hours, told by his mortal remains
The skeleton of Richard III reveals a violent and chaotic end for a controversial English monarch.
- Space
Supernova’s death throes revealed
In archival images, astronomers see giant star’s activity in weeks before supernova.
- Earth
Magnitude 8.0 earthquake strikes Solomon Islands
Temblor is the largest in a month of seismic activity on Australian-Pacific plate boundary.
