Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Farming on Mars will be a lot harder than ‘The Martian’ made it seem
Lab experiments developing and testing fake Martian dirt are proving just how difficult it would be to farm on the Red Planet.
- Paleontology
How massive long-necked dinosaurs rose to rule the Jurassic herbivores
New dinosaur fossil dates to same time as a volcanic surge, suggesting ensuing changes in plant life allowed these long-necked giants to emerge.
- Animals
Hundreds of new genomes help fill the bird ‘tree of life’
More than 10,000 bird species live on Earth. Now, researchers are one step closer to understanding the evolution of all of this feathered diversity.
- Neuroscience
Psilocybin may help treat depression, a small study finds
Researchers found that a compound in psychedelic mushrooms eased depression symptoms, but larger studies are needed.
- Genetics
A key to the mystery of fast-evolving genes was found in ‘junk DNA’
A new study challenges a long-held belief that essential genes change little over time.
- Microbes
50 years ago, scientists suspected microbes flourished in clouds
In 1970, scientists presented early evidence that microbes in clouds may be alive and kicking.
- Health & Medicine
Protecting the brain from infection may start with a gut reaction
In mice, immune cells in the meninges are trained to battle infections in the gut before migrating to the brain.
- Genetics
Penicillin allergies may be linked to one immune system gene
Researchers have located a shared hot spot — on the HLA-B gene — in the immune system in people who say they have penicillin allergies.
- Neuroscience
FDA advisory panel declines to support a controversial Alzheimer’s treatment
The fate of an Alzheimer’s drug, developed by pharmaceutical company Biogen, remains up in the air.
- Animals
A blue-green glow adds to platypuses’ long list of bizarre features
The discovery of platypuses’ fluorescent fur has researchers wondering if the trait is more widespread among mammals than anyone has realized.
- Life
An ancient amphibian is the oldest known animal with a slingshot tongue
A tiny amphibian that lived 99 million years ago waited for invertebrate prey before snatching them with a swift, shooting tongue.
- Plants
How passion, luck and sweat saved some of North America’s rarest plants
As the list of plants no longer found in the wild grows, botanists and conservationists search for signs of hope — and sometimes get lucky.
