Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Paleontology
Once upon a time, insects had 24 legs
A many-legged oddball from long ago helps fill a major gap in the fossil record — and hints at how insects ended up with just six legs.
- Neuroscience
How memories may survive hibernation
Hibernating mice rapidly lost and regrew half of the connections in their memory centers, while key connection hubs survived.
- Health & Medicine
Less sugar early in life might decrease dementia risk
Children exposed to World War II sugar rationing had lower dementia and Alzheimer’s risk decades later, data suggest.
- Animals
Heat therapy for sick frogs lowers sperm levels
Scientists often use thermal treatment to combat fatal fungal infection in frogs, but it may come at a cost.
- Neuroscience
Personalized brain stimulation can ease chronic pain
A week-long brain mapping session can lead to lasting relief, a case series of three pain patients shows.
- Neuroscience
Motor neurons don’t just move muscles. They may direct that motion too
A fruit fly study shows motor neurons do more than relay commands: They send signals back to the brain and organize movement sequences.
- Plants
Plants under attack leave behind a surprising call for backup
Bacteria may build a memory of herbivore attack in the soil and coax new plants to attract wasps to rein in destructive pests.
- 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.
