Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Strange brains offer a glimpse into the mind
A close look at unusual brains offers a way to understand how the human mind is constructed, two new books argue.
- Animals
In the animal kingdom, what does it mean to be promiscuous?
A review of hundreds of scientific studies finds that the label “promiscuous” is applied to a surprisingly wide range of mating behaviors in animals.
- Health & Medicine
The first gene-silencing drug wins FDA approval
The FDA just approved the first drug that works via RNA interference.
- Paleontology
What ‘The Meg’ gets wrong — and right — about megalodon sharks
A paleobiologist helps Science News separate shark fact from fiction in the new Jason Statham film The Meg.
- Life
Here’s how fast cell death can strike
Scientists have measured how quickly the signal to commit form of cellular suicide called apoptosis travels.
- Animals
A ghost gene leaves ocean mammals vulnerable to some pesticides
Manatees, dolphins and other warm-blooded marine animals can't break down organophosphates due to genetic mutations that occurred long ago.
- Health & Medicine
A newly approved drug could be a boon for treating malaria
Tafenoquine could help prevent the recurring form of malaria, but the drug may also be dangerous for people who have a certain genetic mutation.
- Climate
Readers question dark fusion, Antarctic ice melting and more
Readers had questions about Antarctic ice melting, dark fusion and greenhouse gas emissions.
- Genetics
Researchers say CRISPR edits to a human embryo worked. But critics still doubt it
Researchers say that they have confirmed CRISPR/Cas9 edits of a heart disease–causing version of a gene, but critics still have doubts.
- Archaeology
The debate over people’s pathway into the Americas heats up
Defenders of an ice-free inland passage for early Americans make their case.
- Life
Nasty stomach viruses can travel in packs
Contained clusters of rotavirus and norovirus caused more severe infections in mice than the same viruses working solo.
- Health & Medicine
Zika may harm nearly 1 in 7 babies exposed to the virus in the womb
A new CDC report tallies neurological and developmental problems, in addition to birth defects, possibly due to Zika in U.S. territory–born babies.
