Animals
Female rats like a different kind of tickling than males
Female rats prefer gentler tickling, a finding that could reshape animal happiness research.
Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Life
- Paleontology
If wings came before flight, what were they for?
Scientists use simulated dinosaurs to trigger real insect brains and test how wings originally evolved.
- Neuroscience
Why some brain cells are particularly vulnerable to multiple sclerosis
DNA damage from inflammation outpaces the cells’ ability to self-repair. The finding, in human brain cells and mice, could point to new MS treatments.
- Neuroscience
25 people learned to fly with virtual wings. Here’s how the brain changed
A new study shows learning to fly in virtual reality with virtual wings can reshape the brain, making it treat wings more like body parts.
- Archaeology
Neandertals used rhinoceros teeth as tools
Finds at sites in Spain and France suggest that Neandertals used the teeth of ancient rhinos for heavy-duty fabrication.
- Animals
Singing mice puff up air sacs to make their sweet songs
To serenade with their high-pitched songs, singing mice inflate a throat sac — a use for air sacs seemingly unknown in any other animal.
- Health & Medicine
What to know about a rare hantavirus outbreak at sea
Public health officials are racing to find out how the sometimes deadly hantavirus got aboard a cruise ship and if there has been human-to-human spread.
- Neuroscience
Newly mapped brain networks link far-flung regions
In mouse brains, star-shaped astrocytes form flexible networks that may offer another way for brain regions to communicate.
- Plants
Celebrate America’s 250th birthday at a new state flower exhibit
Stop and smell America’s state flowers at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., open now through October 12, 2026.
- Life
Cows’ methane burps may be fueled by a newfound organelle in gut microbes
In cows’ guts, ciliates contain a tiny organelle called a hydrogenobody that may drive production of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
