Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
50 years ago, atomic testing created otter refugees
Nuclear testing on the island of Amchitka caused hundreds of otters to be rehomed 50 years ago. Those hundreds have grown into thousands.
- Neuroscience
A lack of sleep can induce anxiety
Pulling an all-nighter induced anxiety in healthy people, a recent study finds.
- Paleontology
‘End of the Megafauna’ examines why so many giant Ice Age animals went extinct
‘End of the Megafauna’ ponders the mystery of what killed off so many of Earth’s big animals over the last 50,000 years.
- Neuroscience
Loneliness is bad for brains
Social isolation shrinks nerve cells in the brains of mice, a new study shows.
- Life
A mash-up of yeast and E. coli shows how mitochondria might have evolved
An engineered partnership between yeast and E. coli suggests one way mitochondria may have evolved.
- Health & Medicine
Malaysia is ground zero for the next malaria menace
With deforestation in Malaysia, monkeys and humans are getting closer — and mosquitoes are infecting humans with malaria from monkeys.
- Science & Society
Screen time to heal, and perhaps to harm
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute reflects on the advances in virtual reality technology and how much time we spend on our computers and smartphones.
- Anthropology
Neandertal teeth reveal the earliest known signs of lead exposure
Chemical analyses of teeth from young Neandertals show that lead exposure in hominids goes back some 250,000 years.
- Life
Eating less protein may help curb gut bacteria’s growth
A new study in mice and 30 mammal species hints at what controls the types and amounts of gut microbes, which can contribute to health and disease.
- Paleontology
Eggs evolved color and speckles only once — during the age of dinosaurs
Birds’ colorful eggs were inherited from their nonavian dinosaur ancestors.
- Neuroscience
Stimulating the spinal cord helps 3 more paralyzed people walk
There’s more evidence that with targeted spinal cord stimulation, paralyzed people can move voluntarily — and even walk.
- Animals
How roaches fight off wasps that turn their victims into zombies
Cockroaches kick attacking emerald jewel wasps to avoid being incapacitated and buried alive as living meat for the wasps’ young.
