Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

More Stories in Life

  1. Health & Medicine

    How a brutal drought may have helped unleash yellow fever in Brazil

    Animals searching for water brought the forest to the city, perhaps sparking Brazil’s first yellow fever outbreak in decades.

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  2. Neuroscience

    A photographic memory is wishful thinking

    In fiction, photographic memories crack the case or save the day. But our brains can’t hold on to everything — and that’s a good thing.

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  3. Paleontology

    These mammal ancestors birthed live young far earlier than thought

    Growth rings on a fossil bone suggest at least one mammal ancestor gave birth to live young rather than laying eggs 236 million years ago.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Estrogen therapy is linked to fewer signs of Alzheimer’s in the brain

    Estrogen-only menopause therapy in older women was linked to less Alzheimer’s brain pathology at autopsy but may not prevent the disease.

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  5. Animals

    Too many choices complicate female frogs’ sex lives

    In the lab, female frogs were less likely to choose preferred males as mating calls increased, potentially giving other males a better shot.

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  6. Science & Society

    Bamboo toilet paper intrigued me. Reality turned out to be messy

    What makes a greener wipe? Researchers have more to say about bamboo's ecological risks, given limited carbon footprint data.

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  7. Animals

    Sad or afraid? Dogs may be able to read your face

    A new brain-imaging study suggests that dogs may be able to distinguish between certain negative human emotions just by looking at people’s faces.

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  8. Paleontology

    Heat-trapping asteroid dust may have incinerated the dinosaurs within hours

    Within minutes of impact, debris began heating Earth’s atmosphere. Fine dust trapped that heat, potentially killing the dinosaurs quickly.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Bullfrogs may have an antidote to deadly shellfish poisoning

    Researchers injected mice with a protein derived from frogs to save them from the same kind of shellfish poisoning that affects people.

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