Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Lena Pernas sees parasitic infection as a kind of Hunger Games
In studies of Toxoplasma, parasitologist Lena Pernas has reframed infection as a battle between invader and a cell’s mitochondria.
- Neuroscience
Kay Tye improvises to understand our inner lives
To figure out how rich mental lives are created by the brain, neuroscientist Kay Tye applies “a new level of neurobiological sophistication.”
- Anthropology
Christina Warinner uncovers ancient tales in dental plaque
Molecular biologist Christina Warinner studies calculus, or fossilized dental plaque, which contains a trove of genetic clues to past human diet and disease.
- Health & Medicine
Luhan Yang strives to make pig organs safe for human transplants
A bold approach to genome editing by biologist Luhan Yang could alleviate the shortage of organs and ease human suffering.
- Paleontology
A baby ichthyosaur’s last meal revealed
A new look at an old fossil shows that some species of baby ichthyosaurs may have dined on squid.
- Paleontology
A baby ichthyosaur’s last meal revealed
A new look at an old fossil shows that some species of baby ichthyosaurs may have dined on squid.
- Life
Cracking the body clock code wins trio a Nobel Prize
Circadian clock researchers take home the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
- Life
Body clock mechanics wins U.S. trio the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine
The cellular mechanisms governing circadian rhythms was a Nobel Prize‒winning discover for three Americans.
- Oceans
Castaway critters rafted to U.S. shores aboard Japan tsunami debris
Researchers report finding 289 living Japanese marine species that washed up on American shores on debris from the 2011 East Japan earthquake and tsunami.
- Genetics
Ancient boy’s DNA pushes back date of earliest humans
Genes from South African fossils suggest humans emerged close to 300,000 years ago.
- Genetics
A mutation may explain the sudden rise in birth defects from Zika
A mutation in a protein that helps Zika exit cells may play a big role in microcephaly.
- Climate
Tropical forests have flipped from sponges to sources of carbon dioxide
Analyses of satellite images suggest that degraded forests now release more carbon than they store.
