Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
This honeybee parasite may be more of a fat stealer than a bloodsucker
Inventing decoy bee larvae prompts a back-to-basics rethink of a mite ominously named Varroa destructor.
- Neuroscience
New ways to image and control nerve cells could unlock brain mysteries
Methods that target single nerve cells in mice and fruit fly brains are starting to tease apart the brain’s complexity.
- Animals
This rediscovered Bolivian frog species survived deadly chytrid fungus
Scientists recently rediscovered a frog species in Bolivia that hasn’t been seen in 10 years — and it could be used to better understand a frog-killing fungus.
- Animals
Bacterial compounds may be as good as DEET at repelling mosquitoes
A bacterium’s metabolic by-products are as effective as DEET in deterring Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
- Paleontology
A four-legged robot hints at how ancient tetrapods walked
Using fossils, computer simulations and a life-size walking robot, researchers re-created how an early tetrapod may have made tracks.
- Animals
How worm blobs behave like a liquid and a solid
Blobs of worms flow like a fluid, plop like a solid and fascinate scientists.
- Neuroscience
Nerve cells from people with autism grow unusually big and fast
In some forms of autism, nerve cells develop faster than normal, possibly setting the stage for the disorder, a study finds.
- Animals
Poison toilet paper reveals how termites help rainforests resist drought
Novel use of poisoned toilet paper rolls and teabags led to discovery that termites help tropical forests resist droughts.
- Oceans
Floating seabirds provide a novel way to trace ocean currents
Seabirds idly drifting with ocean currents provide a novel way to track and understand how these flows change with time and location.
- Animals
50 years ago, scientists studied orcas in the wild for the first time
The study of killer whales has come a long way since the capture of seven in 1968 allowed scientists to study the animals in their habitat.
- Health & Medicine
Studies can be in vitro, in vivo and now ‘in fimo’ — in poop
Scientists have coined a new term — “in fimo” — to describe studies focused on feces.
- Animals
A protein in mosquito eggshells could be the insects’ Achilles’ heel
A newly discovered protein found exclusively in mosquitoes may one day help control their numbers.
