Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Why is hantavirus so deadly? It’s not what you may think
Andes hantavirus causes deadly lung failure, but its method of attack differs from other respiratory illnesses. The details might inform future treatments.
- Animals
Even careful scuba divers can damage coral reefs
Hours of diving videos and hundreds of survey responses reveal the common diver mistakes that can cause irreversible reef damage.
- Animals
Seabirds weren’t fooled by a scarecrow-like buoy with rotating eyes
A tall buoy with a rotating pair of eyes was supposed to scare birds away from caught fish. Like scarecrows, it didn't work for long.
- Health & Medicine
How to scout a safe summer swimming hole
Best practices, including checking public E. coli reports and keeping your head above water can keep you safe while swimming.
- Health & Medicine
What freediving can reveal about human health — and our limits
The practice of freediving is teaching physiologists how humans stretch their physical and mental limits, which in turn may improve treatments for lung and heart ailments.
- Animals
AI-powered whale-spotting tech may help save San Francisco Bay’s gray whales
An AI trained to use thermal images to detect whale body heat could help warn ships at risk of colliding with the marine mammals.
- Animals
Meet ‘Snuffleupagus,’ a newfound fish sporting shaggy camouflage
Found near Australia, Solenostomus snuffleupagus is a shaggy swimmer that closely resembles Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street.
- Animals
Crabs’ sideways walk may have evolved just once
A study of 50 crab species in Japan traces the iconic sideways walk to a single ancestor, suggesting the trait drove the group's remarkable diversity.
- Microbes
A Greenland explorer will eat only decaying seal for a month
British chef Mike Keen will ski across Greenland eating only fermented seal. Researchers will study how the Inuit diet shapes gut health.
- Animals
Female rats like a different kind of tickling than males
Female rats prefer gentler tickling, a finding that could reshape animal happiness research.
- Health & Medicine
Hantavirus questions grow in the wake of a cruise ship outbreak
Scientists still don’t know why Andes hantavirus is the only one shown to spread from person to person.
- Animals
Territorial conflict may explain male primates’ large size
Male primates may be larger than females partly because of pressure from rival groups, not just competition with males inside their own group.
