Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Oceans
Here’s a breakdown of the animals that crossed the Pacific on 2011 tsunami debris
Hundreds of marine animals from Japan have washed up on U.S. beaches since the destructive 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
- Health & Medicine
A universal flu shot may be nearing reality
Scientists are developing a universal vaccine against flu, making annual shots a thing of the past.
- Life
Gut fungi might be linked to obesity and inflammatory bowel disorders
Fungi are overlooked contributors to health and disease.
- Animals
To understand the origins of pain, ask a flatworm
A danger-sensing protein responds to hydrogen peroxide in planarians, results that hint at the evolutionary origins of people’s pain sensing.
- Animals
Surgeon aims to diagnose deformities of extinct saber-toothed cats
Using CT scans, one orthopedic surgeon is on a quest to diagnose deformities in long-dead saber-toothed cats.
- Climate
During El Niño, the tropics emit more carbon dioxide
El Niño increases carbon emissions from the tropics — mimicking future climate change.
- Neuroscience
There’s no rest for the brain’s mapmakers
Navigational grid cells stay on the job during sleep.
- Genetics
We’re more Neandertal than we thought
Neandertals contributed more to human traits than previously thought.
- Animals
New deep-sea sponge could play a starring role in monitoring ocean health
A new species of sponge that dwells on metal-rich rocks could help scientists track the environmental impact of deep-sea mining.
- Animals
Ancient whale turns up on wrong side of the world
A Southern Hemisphere whale species was briefly a northern resident.
- Tech
Superbugs may meet their match in these nanoparticles
Quantum dots and antibiotics hit bacteria with a one-two punch.
- Neuroscience
New book offers a peek into the mind of Oliver Sacks
The wide-ranging essays in Oliver Sacks’ ‘The River of Consciousness’ contemplate evolution, memory and more.
