Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Animals

    If you want to believe your home’s bug free, don’t read this book

    ‘Never Home Alone’ reveals the hidden world living in human-made spaces.

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  2. Archaeology

    Ancient South Americans tasted chocolate 1,500 years before anyone else

    Artifacts with traces of cacao push back the known date for when the plant was first domesticated by 1,500 years.

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  3. Chemistry

    Zapping substances with electrons can quickly map chemical structures

    Speedy molecular identification originally developed for proteins might benefit crime lab researchers and drugmakers.

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  4. Animals

    While eating, these tiny worms release chemicals to lure their next meal

    As they eat insects, one nematode species releases chemicals that attract more insect prey.

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  5. Animals

    Coral larvae survive being frozen and thawed for the first time

    Cryopreservation might help save some coral reefs at risk from climate change and other dangers.

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  6. Paleontology

    The first vertebrates on Earth arose in shallow coastal waters

    After appearing about 480 million years ago in coastal waters, the earliest vertebrates stayed in the shallows for another 100 million years.

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  7. Life

    To get a deeper tan, don’t sunbathe every day

    Skin cells make protective melanin on a 48-hour cycle.

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  8. Animals

    How a snake named Hannibal led to a discovery about cobra cannibalism

    Scientists discovered that cobras in southern Africa eat each other more often than thought. And that may be true for cobras in other places as well.

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  9. Plants

    Liverwort plants contain a painkiller similar to the one in marijuana

    Cannabinoids found in liverwort plants could spell relief for those suffering from chronic pain.

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  10. Life

    Why some people may be more susceptible to deadly C. difficile infections

    Proline, a type of amino acid, increases when gut microbe mixes are disturbed, giving this pathogen a ready food source.

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  11. Neuroscience

    Messing with fruit flies’ gut bacteria turns them into speed walkers

    Without the right gut microbes, fruit flies walk faster and take shorter rests, results that highlight a new connection between the gut and brain.

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  12. Agriculture

    Plants engineered to always be on alert don’t grow well

    Scientists bred a type of weed to lack proteins that help stem the production of bitter chemicals used to ward off insect attacks.

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