Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
Cephalopods may have traded evolution gains for extra smarts
Editing RNA may give cephalopods smarts, but there’s a trade-off.
- Health & Medicine
Readers question mental health research
Maintaining mental health, protecting ocean critters and more in reader feedback.
- Life
CRISPR had a life before it became a gene-editing tool
Before it was a tool, CRISPR was a weapon in the never-ending war between microbes and viruses
- Animals
First fluorescent frogs might see each others’ glow
A polka dot frog, the first known fluorescent amphibian, may get a visibility boost in twilight and moonlight.
- Science & Society
‘Specimens’ goes behind the scenes of Chicago’s Field Museum
The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago puts seldom-seen specimens on display in a new exhibit to highlight the crucial role of museum objects in scientific research.
- Neuroscience
Food odors are more enticing to sleep-deprived brains
Sleep deprivation makes the brain more sensitive to food smells.
- Neuroscience
More brain differences seen between girls, boys with ADHD
ADHD looks different in the cerebellums of girls and boys with the condition.
- Animals
Camera trap catches a badger burying a cow
Badgers are known to bury small animals to save them for future eating. Now researchers have caught them caching something much bigger: young cows.
- Animals
For glass frogs, moms matter after all
Brief but important maternal care may have evolved before the elaborate egg-tending of glass frog dads.
- Health & Medicine
Getting dengue first may make Zika infection much worse
Experiments in cells and mice suggest that a previous exposure to dengue or West Nile can make a Zika virus infection worse.
- Paleontology
New tyrannosaur had a sensitive side
Tyrannosaurs may have had sensitive snouts that detected temperature and touch.
- Animals
Mosquito flight is unlike that of any other insect
High-speed video and modeling reveal a more complex understanding of mosquito flight.
