Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
No more than 800 orangutans from this newly identified species remain
Endangered population of orangutans is the oldest surviving red ape lineage, a new study finds.
- Animals
Ants were among the world’s first farmers
50 years ago, researchers began unraveling the secrets to Attine ants’ green thumbs.
- Earth
Dino-dooming asteroid impact created a chilling sulfur cloud
The Chicxulub impact spewed more sulfur than previously believed.
- Animals
Great praise for categories, and seeing beyond them
Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill discusses classification and some of the challenges of putting species in categorical boxes.
- Health & Medicine
Readers intrigued by ancient animals’ bones
Readers had questions about gut bacteria, woolly rhino ribs and ancient horses hooves.
- Life
Defining ‘species’ is a fuzzy art
Here's why scientists still don't agree on what a species is.
- Animals
This sea slug makes its prey do half the food catching
Nudibranchs’ stolen meals blur classic predator-prey levels.
- Life
Hybrids reveal the barriers to successful mating between species
Scientists don’t understand the process of speciation, but hybrids can reveal the genes that keep species apart.
- Animals
Scary as they are, few vampires have a backbone
Researchers speculate on why there are so few vampires among vertebrates.
- Animals
Here’s the real story on jellyfish taking over the world
In 'Spineless,' a former marine scientist reconnects with the seas and science through her obsession with these enigmatic creatures.
- Paleontology
New dinosaur sported a curious set of chompers
Matheronodon provincialis, a newly described dinosaur, munched on tough plants with big scissors for teeth.
- Animals
Climate change may threaten these bamboo-eating lemurs
Longer dry spells and more nutrient-poor bamboo might eventually doom the greater bamboo lemur, a critically endangered species.
