Life

  1. Neuroscience

    Study casts doubt on whether adult brain’s memory-forming region makes new cells

    An examination of 54 human brains suggests that adults don’t grow new neurons in the hippocampus, contrary to several widely accepted studies.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    How dad’s stress changes his sperm

    Stress may change sperm via packets of RNA in the epididymis, a mouse study suggests.

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  3. Neuroscience

    The brain’s helper cells have a hand in learning fear

    After a traumatic experience, rat brains release inflammatory signals that come from astrocytes, suggesting a new role for the brain’s “helper” cells.

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  4. Archaeology

    How Asian nomadic herders built new Bronze Age cultures

    Ancient steppe herders traveled into Europe and Asia, leaving their molecular mark and building Bronze Age cultures.

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  5. Animals

    Coconut crabs are a bird’s worst nightmare

    A biologist witnesses a coconut crab taking out a blue-footed booby and documents the balance of the animals in an Indian Ocean archipelago.

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  6. Animals

    These spiders may have the world’s fastest body clocks

    Three orb-weaving spiders may have the shortest circadian clocks yet discovered among animals.

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  7. Animals

    The Lord Howe stick insect is officially back from the dead

    New genomic sequencing confirms that stick insects discovered near Lord Howe Island are the assumed-extinct Lord Howe stick insect.

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  8. Anthropology

    Ancient European farmers and foragers hooked up big time

    Interbreeding escalated in regionally distinct ways across Neolithic Europe.

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  9. Animals

    This deep-sea fish uses weird eyes to see in dark and light

    The eyes of deep-sea fish called pearlsides contain cells that look like rods but act like cones.

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  10. Animals

    Crested pigeons sound the alarm with their wings

    Crested pigeons have specialized feathers that signal danger when they flee from an apparent threat.

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  11. Animals

    Honeybees fumble their way to blueberry pollination

    Blueberry flowers drive honeybees to grappling, even stomping a leg or two down a bloom throat, to reach pollen.

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  12. Neuroscience

    See these first-of-a-kind views of living human nerve cells

    A catalog of live brain cells reveals stunning diversity and intricate shapes, and may help scientists understand the abilities of the human brain.

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