Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Not all of a cell’s protein-making machines do the same job
Ribosomes may switch up their components to specialize in building proteins.
- Life
Mini brains may wrinkle and fold just like ours
Brain organoids show how ridges and wrinkles may form.
- Animals
Once settled, immigrants play important guard roles in mongoose packs
Dwarf mongoose packs ultimately benefit from taking in immigrants, but there’s an assimilation period.
- Animals
This ancient marsupial lion had an early version of ‘bolt-cutter’ teeth
Extinct dog-sized predator crunched with unusual slicers toward the back of its jaw.
- Health & Medicine
When tumors fuse with blood vessels, clumps of breast cancer cells can spread
Breast cancer tumors may merge with blood vessels to help the cancer spread.
- Animals
Narwhals react to certain dangers in a really strange way
After escaping a net, narwhals significantly lower their heart rate while diving quickly to get away from humans.
- Artificial Intelligence
AI eavesdrops on dolphins and discovers six unknown click types
An algorithm uncovered the new types of echolocation sounds among millions of underwater recordings from the Gulf of Mexico.
- Genetics
CRISPR/Cas9 can reverse multiple diseases in mice
A new gene therapy uses CRISPR/Cas9 to turn on dormant genes.
- Paleontology
This new dinosaur species was one odd duck
Weird dino swimmer had flipperlike limbs and a swanlike neck.
- Materials Science
New 3-D printed materials harness the power of bacteria
The three-dimensional materials contain live bacteria and could generate wound dressings or clean up pollutants.
- Animals
Scallops’ amazing eyes use millions of tiny, square crystals to see
Each of a scallop’s many eyes contains an intricate mirror made from millions of crystals.
- Genetics
Bats in China carry all the ingredients to make a new SARS virus
Viruses infecting bats could recombine to re-create SARS.
