Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
U.S. seal populations have rebounded — and so have their conflicts with humans
Alix Morris’s new book, A Year with the Seals, explores humans’ complicated relationship with these controversial marine mammals.
- Animals
Compare shark sizes on our infographic
As Jaws celebrates its 50th anniversary, Science News explores the vast range of shark sizes, from megaladon to the dwarf lanternshark.
- Anthropology
‘Dragon Man’ skull may be the first from an enigmatic human cousin
Ancient proteins and DNA may peg a 146,000-year-old Chinese skull as the most complete fossil to date from Denisovans, a puzzling line of Asian hominids.
- Animals
This moth species may use the Milky Way as its guiding star
Bogong moths migrate up to 1,000 kilometers from Australian plains to mountain caves to escape the summer heat. The stars may help them get there.
- Science & Society
How attacks on evolution in classrooms have shifted over the last 100 years
Since the Scopes trial in 1925, Science News has reported on legislative attempts to undermine the teaching of evolution.
- Animals
Fewer scavengers could mean more zoonotic disease
Scavenger populations are decreasing, a new study shows. That could put human health at risk.
- Humans
100 years after the Scopes trial, science is still under attack
In 1925, John Scopes was indicted for teaching evolution. Science News looks at the forces that led to the trial and how expertise was the big loser.
- Health & Medicine
A genetic test may predict which weight loss drugs work best for patients
Variants of obesity-related genes influence how much weight patients lose on specific weight loss drugs like liraglutide, two studies report.
- Animals
This spider’s barf is worse than its bite
Most spider species subdue dinner by injecting venom from their fangs. Feather-legged lace weavers swathe prey in silk, then upchuck a killing brew.
- Neuroscience
At early ages, autism in girls and boys looks similar
A new study of more than 2,500 children under 5 found little difference in autism symptoms between boys and girls.
- Animals
Preemptively cutting rhinos’ horns cuts poaching
Comparing various tactics for protecting rhinos suggests that dehorning them drastically reduces poaching.
- Animals
Probiotics helped great star corals fend off a deadly disease
A probiotic paste prevented the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease, but the treatment is still a proof-of-concept, not a cure.
