Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

More Stories in Life

  1. Animals

    Animals experience joy. Scientists want to measure it

    Scientists have long focused on quantifying fear and other negative emotions in animals. Now they’re trying to measure positive feelings — and it’s a challenge.

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  2. Life

    There’s life beneath the snow, but it’s at risk of melting away

    An array of animals and plants survive winter in the subnivium, nature’s igloo. But climate change is threatening this hidden seasonal ecosystem.

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  3. Plants

    'In Botanical Time' explores the ways Earth’s oldest plants cheat death

    Author Christopher Woods unpacks the science behind ancient plants’ longevity in a new book.

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  4. Animals

    This tool-using cow defies expectations for bovine braininess

    Veronika the cow uses a brush as a tool to scratch herself, revealing rare problem-solving skills and expanding what we know of tool use in animals.

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  5. Animals

    This fish may play a hole in its head like a drum

    The rockhead poacher is a little fish with a big pit in its head. The divot may be like a drum, making sound that rises above a chaotic, nearshore din.

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  6. Animals

    Animal personalities can play a big role in saving species

    From bold foxes to gregarious birds, animals’ personalities are increasingly being seen as crucial to conservation efforts.

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  7. Animals

    How cheetah mummies could help bring the species back to Arabia

    Arabian cheetah mummies' DNA reveals that the long-lost population could be closely replaced by a cheetah population in northwestern Africa.

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  8. Paleontology

    This dino’s fossil claw suggests it snatched eggs, not insects

    A 67-million-year-old claw fossil reveals a new dinosaur species that may have used its hand spikes to snatch and pierce eggs.

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  9. Plants

    Plants packed close enough to touch are more resilient to stress

    Signals transmitted via leaves can warn neighboring plants of stressful events, making the group collectively more resilient than plants in isolation.

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