Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Paleontology
Pterosaurs weren’t all super-sized in the Late Cretaceous
A 77-million-year-old flying reptile may be the smallest pterosaur of the Late Cretaceous.
- Animals
As IUCN votes on ivory trade, elephants’ future looks bleak
As the IUCN prepares to debate an end to the ivory trade, two new reports show just how poorly Africa’s elephant species are faring.
- Animals
Tiny structures give a peacock spider its radiant rump
Peacock spiders use pigments and complex nanostructures to achieve bright dance costumes.
- Neuroscience
Brain training can alter opinions of faces
Covert neural training could shift people’s opinions of faces.
- Life
Scientists watch as bacteria evolve antibiotic resistance
A giant petri dish exposes the evolutionary dynamics behind antibiotic resistance.
- Life
Fossils hint at India’s crucial role in primate evolution
Ancient fossils from coal mine in India offer clues to what the common ancestor of present-day primates might have looked like.
- Genetics
Genetic surgery is closer to reality
A molecular scalpel called CRISPR/Cas9 has made gene editing possible.
- Health & Medicine
Readers contemplate aging research
Aging research, dino guts and Earth's quasisatellite in reader feedback.
- Oceans
Fish escapes from marine farms raise concerns about wildlife
Farmed salmon, sea bass and other fish frequently escape from sea cages into the ocean. Will these runaways harm native wildlife?
- Paleontology
Preteen tetrapods identified by bone scans
Roughly 360 million years ago, young tetrapods may have schooled together during prolonged years as juveniles in the water.
- Paleontology
Jurassic ichthyosaur dubbed ‘Storr Lochs Monster’ unveiled
A rare, 170-year-old skeleton discovered in Scotland is one of the best-preserved ichthyosaur fossils from the Middle Jurassic.
- Microbes
Microbial matter comes out of the dark
Undiscovered bacteria challenge what scientists know about microbial life.
