Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Spikes, claws and stingers have no single best shape
A study of 143 piercing tools, from tusks to love darts, finds they trade off piercing ability for durability. And no one shape wins out.
- Animals
A new documentary shows what growing up lion is really like
The thrilling National Geographic series, premiering August 19, follows Kio from lion cub to king.
- Animals
Shrews’ noses grow in winter as their brains shrink
Long-clawed shrews’ snouts temporarily grow larger in the winter. This skull reshaping may be an extreme survival strategy in cold conditions.
- Health & Medicine
What Spider-Man gets right — and wrong — about turning off superpowers
In 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day,' Peter Parker devises a superpower inhibitor based on a real therapy using RNA.
- Animals
Snail slime does many jobs thanks to calcium
Snails have five distinct types of mucus, each with its own job. The mollusks tweak calcium secretions to get the chemical mixture just right.
- Health & Medicine
How a brutal drought may have helped unleash yellow fever in Brazil
Animals searching for water brought the forest to the city, perhaps sparking Brazil’s first yellow fever outbreak in decades.
- Neuroscience
A photographic memory is wishful thinking
In fiction, photographic memories crack the case or save the day. But our brains can’t hold on to everything — and that’s a good thing.
- Paleontology
These mammal ancestors birthed live young far earlier than thought
Growth rings on a fossil bone suggest at least one mammal ancestor gave birth to live young rather than laying eggs 236 million years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Estrogen therapy is linked to fewer signs of Alzheimer’s in the brain
Estrogen-only menopause therapy in older women was linked to less Alzheimer’s brain pathology at autopsy but may not prevent the disease.
- Animals
Too many choices complicate female frogs’ sex lives
In the lab, female frogs were less likely to choose preferred males as mating calls increased, potentially giving other males a better shot.
- Science & Society
Bamboo toilet paper intrigued me. Reality turned out to be messy
What makes a greener wipe? Researchers have more to say about bamboo's ecological risks, given limited carbon footprint data.
- Animals
Sad or afraid? Dogs may be able to read your face
A new brain-imaging study suggests that dogs may be able to distinguish between certain negative human emotions just by looking at people’s faces.
