Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
See these dazzling images of a growing mouse embryo
A new microscope creates intimate home movies of mice embryos taking shape, and could shed light on the mysterious process of mammalian development.
- Animals
What bees did during the Great American Eclipse
A rare study of bees during a total solar eclipse finds that the insects buzzed around as usual — until totality.
- Plants
50 years ago, a 550-year-old seed sprouted
Old seeds can sprout new plants even after centuries of dormancy.
- Earth
These light-loving bacteria may survive surprisingly deep underground
Traces of cyanobacteria DNA suggest that the microbes live deep below Earth’s surface.
- Neuroscience
How your brain is like a film editor
A brain structure called the hippocampus may slice our continuous existence into discrete chunks that can be stored as memories.
- Chemistry
Speeding up evolution to create useful proteins wins the chemistry Nobel
The three winners, which include the fifth woman to win the chemistry prize, pioneered techniques used to fashion customized proteins for new biofuels and drugs.
- Life
Lemur study suggests why some fruits smell so fruity
A new test with lemurs and birds suggests there’s more to fruit odors than simple ripening.
- Animals
Giraffes inherit their spots from their mothers
Africa’s tallest creatures get their characteristic patterns of spots from their moms, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Discovery of how to prod a patient’s immune system to fight cancer wins a Nobel
Two scientists share the 2018 medicine Nobel for identifying proteins that act as brakes on tumor-fighting T cells.
- Plants
Gene editing can speed up plant domestication
CRISPR/Cas9 replays domestication to make better ground cherries and tomatoes.
- Genetics
Smuggling a CRISPR gene editor into staph bacteria can kill the pathogen
A new way fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria co-opts toxin-producing genes.
- Life
Cancer immunotherapy wins the 2018 medicine Nobel Prize
Therapies that unleash immune system brakes against cancer have earned the 2018 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
