Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Animals

    Jenny Tung wants to know how social stresses mess with genes

    Evolutionary anthropologist Jenny Tung is untangling the many health effects of life as a social animal.

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  2. Animals

    This new fish species displays a splash of highlighter hues

    Researchers stumbled upon a new species of coral reef fish with spectacular coloration and a unique habitat.

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  3. Neuroscience

    A paralyzed man makes great strides with spinal stimulation and rehab

    Researchers find success at restoring movement to paralyzed legs, giving hope to people with paraplegia.

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  4. Genetics

    In lab tests, this gene drive wiped out a population of mosquitoes

    For the first time, a gene drive caused a population crash of mosquitoes in a small-scale test.

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  5. Animals

    How math helps explain the delicate patterns of dragonfly wings

    Scientists have found a mathematical explanation for the complex patterns on the wings of dragonflies and other insects.

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  6. Anthropology

    The way hunter-gatherers share food shows how cooperation evolved

    Camp customs override selfishness and generosity when foragers divvy up food, a study of East Africa’s Hazda hunter-gatherers shows.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, a flu pandemic spurred vaccine research

    A half-century after the Hong Kong flu pandemic, scientists are getting closer to a universal vaccine.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Kidney stones grow and dissolve much like geological crystals

    Kidney stones are dynamic entities that grow and dissolve, a new study finds, which contradicts the prevailing medical assumption.

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  9. Paleontology

    Cholesterol traces suggest these mysterious fossils were animals, not fungi

    Traces of cholesterol still clinging to a group of enigmatic Ediacaran fossils suggests the weird critters were animals, not fungi or lichen.

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  10. Life

    Humans have skeletal stem cells that help bones and cartilage grow

    Human skeletal stem cells have been found for the first time.

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  11. Life

    DNA from seized elephant ivory unmasks 3 big trafficking cartels in Africa

    Scientists can sleuth out wildlife crime and aid law enforcement by tracing elephant DNA from ivory seizures back to the source.

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  12. Neuroscience

    Over-the-hill cells may cause trouble in the aging brain

    Killing dormant cells in the brains of mice staved off memory trouble.

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