Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Ancient DNA reveals China’s first ‘pet’ cat wasn’t the house cat
The modern house cat reached China in the 8th century. Before that, another cat — the leopard cat — hunted the rodents in ancient Chinese settlements.
- Humans
Ancient southern Africans took genetic evolution in a new direction
An ancient, shared set of human-specific genes underwent changes in a geographically isolated population after around 300,000 years ago, scientists say.
- Animals
Cuddly koalas had a brutal, blade-toothed close cousin
Ancient collagen preserved in the bones of extinct Australian mammals is revealing their evolutionary relationships, leading to some surprises.
- Paleontology
This bright orange life-form could point to new dino discoveries
Colorful lichen living on dinosaur bones reflect infrared light that can be detected by drones, which might lead to finds in remote areas.
- Life
Rats are snatching bats out of the air and eating them
The grisly infrared camera footage records a never-before-seen hunting tactic. It may have implications for bat conservation.
- Life
A new dinosaur doomsday exhibit showcases survival after destruction
The American Museum of Natural History’s “Impact: The End of the Age of the Dinosaurs” examines how an asteroid impact shaped life as we know it.
- Physics
Here’s how Rudolph’s light-up nose might be possible
Simple chemistry could give the reindeer his famously bright snout. But physics would make it look different colors from the ground.
- Animals
Lions have a second roar that no one noticed until now
A machine learning analysis of wild lion audio reveals they have two roar types, not one. This insight might help detect where lions are declining.
- Plants
Moss spores survived in space for 9 months
The moss species Physcomitrium patens is the latest organism to survive an extended stay in the vacuum and radiation of space.
- Animals
A wolf raided a crab trap. Was it tool use or just canine cunning?
Video from the Haíɫzaqv Nation Indigenous community shows a wolf hauling a crab trap ashore. Scientists are split on whether it counts as tool use.
- Animals
This parasitic ant tricks workers into committing matricide
Newly mated parasitic queen ants invade colonies and spray their victims with a chemical irritant that provokes the workers to kill their mother.
- Animals
40,000-year-old woolly mammoth RNA offers a peek into its last moments
Ancient RNA from Yuka, a 40,000-year-old woolly mammoth preserved in permafrost, can offer new biological insights into the Ice Age animal’s life.
