Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Here’s a rare way that an Alzheimer’s protein can spread
Amyloid-beta found in vials of growth hormone can move from brain to brain, a mouse study shows.
- Animals
50 years ago, armadillos hinted that DNA wasn’t destiny
Nine-banded armadillos have identical quadruplets. But the youngsters aren’t identical enough, and scientists 50 years ago could not figure out why.
- Plants
Hybrid rice engineered with CRISPR can clone its seeds
New research has created self-cloning hybrid rice, raising hopes of higher food production.
- Animals
Nearly 200 Great Barrier Reef coral species also live in the deep sea
There are more coral species lurking in the deep ocean that previously thought. That could be good news for their shallow water counterparts.
- Life
Biologists are one step closer to creating snake venom in the lab
Milking snakes for venom may soon no longer be needed to make antidotes for bites.
- Life
Getting goose bumps could boost hair growth
The same nerves and muscles that create goose bumps may make hair grow.
- Health & Medicine
A gut-brain link for Parkinson’s gets a closer look
Early evidence suggests that Parkinson’s may be a gut disease that affects the brain.
- Health & Medicine
Two new books explore the science and history of the 1918 flu pandemic
One-hundred years after the Spanish flu, ‘Pandemic 1918’ and ‘Influenza’ provide a new look at the global outbreak.
- Neuroscience
The uterus may play a role in memory
In lab tests, rats that underwent hysterectomies had worse spatial memories.
- Oceans
Volcanic eruptions that depleted ocean oxygen may have set off the Great Dying
Massive eruptions from volcanoes spewing greenhouse gases 252 million years ago may have triggered Earth’s biggest mass extinction.
- Animals
Here’s how geckos (almost) walk on water
New high-speed video reveals how geckos use a hybrid walking-swimming gait in water to reach speeds similar to those on land.
- Genetics
A 5,000-year-old mass grave harbors the oldest plague bacteria ever found
DNA from an ancient strain of the plague-causing bacterium could help uncover the origins of the deadly disease.
