Life
- Health & Medicine
Readers concerned about cancer’s sugary disguise
Tricky cancer cells, brain-shaping smartphones, a cow-burying badger and more in reader feedback.
- Climate
Lakes worldwide feel the heat from climate change
Lakes worldwide are warming with consequences for every part of the food web, from algae, to walleye, to freshwater seals.
- Science & Society
Fox experiment is replaying domestication in fast-forward
How to Tame a Fox recounts a nearly 60-year experiment in Russia to domesticate silver foxes.
- Health & Medicine
Lungs enlist immune cells to fight infections in capillaries
Immune cells in the lungs provide a rapid counterattack to bloodstream infections, a new study in mice finds.
- Neuroscience
Nerve cell miswiring linked to depression
A gene helps nerve cell axons extend to parts of the brain to deliver serotonin, a brain chemical associated with depression.
- Climate
Ocean acidification may hamper food web’s nitrogen-fixing heroes
A new look at marine Trichodesmium microbes suggests trouble for nitrogen fixation in an acidifying ocean.
- Genetics
Ancient DNA bucks tale of how the horse was tamed
DNA from ancient horses reveals early domestication involved plenty of stallions.
- Life
How a mushroom gets its glow
For the first time, biologists have pinpointed the compound that lights up in fungal bioluminescence.
- Life
How a mushroom gets its glow
For the first time, biologists have pinpointed the compound that lights up in fungal bioluminescence.
- Animals
The scales of the ocellated lizard are surprisingly coordinated
The mazelike patterns of the ocellated lizard’s skin follow a set of rules from computer science.
- Animals
Dog DNA study maps breeds across the world
Here are five findings from a massive study of dog breed genomes.
- Animals
How a dolphin eats an octopus without dying
An octopus’s tentacles can kill a dolphin — or a human — when eaten alive. But wily dolphins in Australia have figured out how to do this safely.
