Life
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Immune cells play surprising role in steady heartbeat
Immune system cells called macrophages help heart cells rhythmically contract, maintaining the beat of mice’s hearts.
- Neuroscience
Brain gains seen in elderly mice injected with human umbilical cord plasma
Plasma from human umbilical cord blood refreshes aspects of learning and memory in mice.
- Particle Physics
Scientists find amazement in what’s most familiar
Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill discusses the unexpected nature of science.
- Animals
Readers bugged by wine-spoiling stinkbugs
Stinkbug hazards, Great Lakes invaders and more reader feedback.
- Animals
Venomous fish have evolved many ways to inflict pain
Fish venom shows great diversity and is being studied to treat pain, cancer and other diseases.
By Amber Dance - Health & Medicine
Frog slime protein fights off the flu
Urumin, a protein found in Indian frog mucus secretions, has a knack for taking down H1 flu viruses, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Frog slime protein fights off the flu
Urumin, a protein found in Indian frog mucus secretions, has a knack for taking down H1 flu viruses, a new study finds.
- Archaeology
How the house mouse tamed itself
When people began to settle down, animals followed. Some made successful auditions as our domesticated species. Others — like mice — became our vermin, a new study shows.
- Paleontology
Early dinosaur relative sported odd mix of bird, crocodile-like traits
Teleocrater rhadinus gives researchers a better picture of what early dinosaur relatives looked like.
- Animals
Improbable ‘black swan’ events can devastate animal populations
Conservation managers should take a note from the world of investments and pay attention to “black swan” events, a new study posits.
- Ecosystems
Hawk moths convert nectar into antioxidants
Hawk moths use their sugary diet to make antioxidants that protect their muscles.
- Animals
Size matters to lizards, but numbers may not
Scientists have sized up the quantitative abilities of lizards and found that reptiles may not be as good with numbers as other vertebrates.