Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
The message-sending part of neurons may be blobby, not smooth
Axons can be shaped like strings of pearls, research in mice and people show. How that shape may influence brain signaling is not yet clear.
- Anthropology
Humans have linked emotions to the same body parts for 3,000 years
3,000-year-old clay tablets show that some associations between emotion and parts of the body have remained the same for millennia.
- Life
The ‘Blob,’ an unprecedented marine heat wave, killed 4 million seabirds
Millions of other animals may have perished too, suggesting the die-off event might be one of the worst in modern times.
- Genetics
Neandertal genes in people today came from hook-ups around 47,000 years ago
Most present-day humans carry a small amount of Neandertal DNA that can be traced back to a single period of interbreeding, two genetic analyses find.
- Animals
The screams of thirsty plants may prompt some moths to lay eggs elsewhere
Female moths may pick up on the ultrasonic wailing of distressed plants and opt to lay their eggs on different, healthier plants.
- Plants
Meet a scientist tracking cactus poaching in the Atacama Desert
Botanist Pablo Guerrero has been visiting Atacama cacti all his life. They’re not adapting well to a drier climate, booming mining and plant collection.
- Animals
Climate stress may undermine male spiders’ romantic gift giving
Even spider love lives show an effect of climate uncertainty: Stressed males may offer a bit of silk-wrapped junk rather than a tasty insect treat.
- Life
Trees are failing to adapt to climate change. Losing fungi partners may be why
Certain fungi give trees nutrients and water, but heat and drought are putting both at risk.
- Ecosystems
New videos reveal the hidden lives of Andean bears
The footage give clues to the range of plants the bears eat and how they mate, information important for conservation.
- Life
Here’s how long it would take 100 worms to eat the plastic in one face mask
An experiment reveals that a bio-solution to humans’ microplastics mess is likely to fall short, but could inspire other ways to attack the problem.
- Animals
Ethiopian wolves are the first large carnivores found to slurp nectar
Wolves from three different packs were seen licking red hot poker flowers. That sweet tooth could make them the first known large predator pollinators.
- Neuroscience
Electronic ‘tattoos’ offer an alternative to electrodes for brain monitoring
A standard EEG test requires electrodes that come with pitfalls. A spray-on ink, capable of carrying electrical signals, avoids some of those.
