Ecosystems
Food chains in Caribbean coral reefs are getting shorter
Shorter food chains could mean reefs are less able to weather changes in food availability, threatening an already vulnerable ecosystem.
Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Life
- Animals
A bonobo’s imaginary tea party suggests apes can play pretend
Apes, like humans, are capable of pretend play, challenging long-held views about how animals think, a new study suggests.
- Neuroscience
Babies brains’ can follow a beat as soon as they’re born
Brain scans and signals show babies can sort images and sense rhythm, offering new insight into how infant brains are wired from the start.
- Health & Medicine
Gum disease bacteria can promote cancer growth in mice
In mice, the oral bacteria F. nucleatum can travel to mammary tissue via the bloodstream, where it can damage healthy cells.
- Animals
Some dung beetles dig deep to keep their eggs cool
A temperate tunneling species of dung beetle seems capable of adapting to climate change, but their tropical cousins may be less resilient.
- Animals
These beetle larvae lure in bees by mimicking flowers
These parasitic beetle larvae lure in bees with complex floral aromas before hitching a ride back to their nests and eating their eggs.
- Artificial Intelligence
AI models spot deepfake images, but people catch fake videos
A new study finds that humans and AI spot different kinds of deepfakes — hinting at the need to team up to fight them.
- Neuroscience
A study hints positive thinking could strengthen vaccine immunity
Thinking positive increased a specific brain region's activity and might have heightened immune response after a shot.
- Animals
Canadian humpback whales thrive with a little help from their friends
Humpback whales are teaching each other a feeding technique called bubble netting, and it's helping a Canadian population recover from whaling.
- Genetics
AI tool AlphaGenome predicts how one typo can change a genetic story
The tool helps scientists understand how single-letter mutations and distant DNA regions influence gene activity, shaping health and disease risk.
