Life

  1. Science & Society

    These truisms proved false in 2015

    Don’t always believe what you hear. These truisms turned out to be false in 2015.

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  2. Animals

    Puff adders appear ‘invisible’ to noses

    The snakey scent of puff adders proves difficult for even sensitive animal noses to detect.

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  3. Paleontology

    Bubbles may have sheltered Earth’s early life

    Bubbles formed on ancient shorelines offer scientists a new place to look for traces of early life.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Anatomy of the South Korean MERS outbreak

    The Middle East respiratory syndrome virus, which infected 186 people in South Korea in 2015, quickly spread within and between hospitals via a handful of “superspreaders.”

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  5. Agriculture

    Number of wild bees drops where they’re needed most

    Wild bee abundance in the United States is lowest in agricultural regions, according to a new model.

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  6. Life

    Tweaking the pattern equations

    A more than 60-year-old theory about how patterns in nature form gets an update.

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  7. Animals

    Fog ferries mercury from the ocean to land animals

    Scientists have traced mercury in the waters of the Pacific Ocean to animals, including mountain lions, in California.

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  8. Life

    Upending daily rhythm triggers fat cell growth

    Constant production of stress hormone spurs fat growth.

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  9. Genetics

    Roosters run afoul of genetic rules

    Moms aren’t always the only ones that pass mitochondrial DNA to offspring, a study of chickens finds.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    To treat the heart, start with the gut

    Preventing gut bacteria from making certain chemical compounds reduced artery clogging in mice, researchers report.

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  11. Animals

    Male monkeys go rouge for mating season

    Bright red lip color separates players from bachelors during monkey mating season.

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  12. Life

    For water bears, the glass is all full

    When dried, water bears turn into glass.

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