Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
How to grow toxin-free corn
Corn genetically altered to produce specialized molecules may prevent a fungus from tainting it with carcinogenic toxins.
- Neuroscience
Scratching is catching in mice
Contagious itching spreads by sight mouse-to-mouse, and scientists have identified brain structures behind the phenomenon.
- Genetics
Scientists move closer to building synthetic yeast from scratch
Scientists have created five more synthetic yeast chromosomes.
- Animals
De-extinction probably isn’t worth it
Diverting money to resurrecting extinct creatures could put those still on Earth at risk.
- Archaeology
Ancient dental plaque tells tales of Neandertal diet and disease
Researchers have reconstructed the diet and disease history of ancient Neandertals.
- Archaeology
Ancient dental plaque tells tales of Neandertal diet and disease
Researchers have reconstructed the diet and disease history of ancient Neandertals.
- Animals
Readers dispute starfishes’ water-swirling abilities
Volcanic eruptions, fast-freezing water, starfish physics and more in reader feedback.
- Neuroscience
Brain training turns recall rookies into memory masters
Six weeks of training turned average people into memory masters, a skill reflected in their brains.
- Agriculture
Fleets of drones could pollinate future crops
Chemist Eijiro Miyako turned a lab failure into a way to rethink artificial pollination.
- Ecosystems
Invasive species, climate change threaten Great Lakes
In The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, a journalist chronicles the lakes’ downward spiral and slow revival.
- Paleontology
Identity of ‘Tully monster’ still a mystery
Paleontologists challenge whether the Tully monster actually was a vertebrate because it lacks key vertebrate structures.
- Anthropology
‘Monkeytalk’ invites readers into the complex social world of monkeys
In Monkeytalk, a primatologist evaluates what’s known about monkeys’ complex social lives in the wild.
