Life
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Genetics
New CRISPR gene editors can fix RNA and DNA one typo at a time
New gene editors can correct common typos that lead to disease.
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Life
Nanoscale glitches let flowers make a blue blur that bees can see
Bees learn about colorful floral rings faster when nanoscale arrays aren’t quite perfect.
By Susan Milius -
Life
A new material may one day keep mussels off piers and boat hulls
Mussels don’t stick to a new lubricant-infused silicone material.
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Genetics
Inbreeding hurts the next generation’s reproductive success
Inbreeding has evolutionary consequences for humans.
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Genetics
Mating with Neandertals reintroduced ‘lost’ DNA into modern humans
Neandertal DNA brought back some old genetic heirlooms to modern humans.
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Life
How bird feeders may be changing great tits’ beaks
Longer beaks may be evolving in U.K. great tits because of the widespread use of bird feeders in the country.
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Genetics
Resurrecting extinct species raises ethical questions
'Rise of the Necrofauna' examines the technical and ethical challenges of bringing woolly mammoths and other long-gone creatures back from the dead.
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Genetics
Doubling up on ‘junk DNA’ helps make us human
DNA duplicated only in humans may contribute to human traits and disease.
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Life
The next wave of bird flu could be worse than ever
Deadly bird flu can pass between ferrets through the air.
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Life
The physics of mosquito takeoffs shows why you don’t feel a thing
Even when full of blood, mosquitoes use more wing force than leg force to escape a host undetected — clue to why they’re so good at spreading disease.
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Particle Physics
Readers question photons colliding, black sea snakes and more
Readers had questions about brain flexibility, black sea snakes and photon collisions.
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Animals
Being a vampire can be brutal. Here’s how bloodsuckers get by.
Blood-sucking animals have specialized physiology and other tools to live on a diet rich in protein and lacking in some nutrients.
By Susan Milius