Life
- Life
This spider slingshots itself at extreme speeds to catch prey
By winding up its web like a slingshot, the slingshot spider achieves an acceleration rate far faster than a cheetah’s.
- Genetics
A CRISPR spin-off causes unintended typos in DNA
One type of CRISPR gene editor makes frequent and widespread mistakes, studies in mice and rice reveal.
- Health & Medicine
Ripples race in the brain as memories are recalled
A fast brain wave called a ripple often came before a person’s correct answer on a memory test.
- Animals
Bears that eat ‘junk food’ may hibernate less and age faster
Wild black bears snacking on leftovers of sugary, highly processed foods in Colorado show possible signs of faster cellular wear.
- Life
Eating a lot of fiber could improve some cancer treatments
A high-fiber diet, which boosts the diversity of gut microbes, may make an immune therapy against skin cancer more effective.
- Neuroscience
How singing mice belt out duets
A precise timing system in the brain helps musical rodents from the cloud forests of Costa Rica sing to one another.
- Animals
What spiders eating weird stuff tell us about complex Amazon food webs
By documenting rare events of invertebrates eating small vertebrates, scientists are shedding new light on the Amazon rainforest’s intricate ecosystem.
- Health & Medicine
Watching hours of TV is tied to verbal memory decline in older people
The more television people age 50 and up watched, the worse they recalled a list of words in tests years later, a study finds.
- Animals
This parasitic cuckoo bird shows cheaters don’t always get ahead
Birds called greater anis that can slip extra eggs into other nests create a natural test of the benefits of honest parenting.
- Genetics
Genes might explain why dogs can’t sniff out some people under stress
Genes and stress may change a person’s body odor, confusing police dogs.
- Genetics
A long handshake can spread your DNA to objects you didn’t touch
Two new studies show that even brief contact with another person or object could transfer your DNA far and wide.
- Health & Medicine
With its burning grip, shingles can do lasting damage
Varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles, may instigate several other problems.
