Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
These mystery mounds are actually giant piles of earthworm poop
The grassy mounds that dot a watery landscape in South America are created by giant earthworms, a new study finds.
- Genetics
Risk identified in procedure for ‘three-parent babies’
Resurgent mitochondria could spell trouble for disease therapy.
- Neuroscience
Wiping out gut bacteria impairs brain
Antibiotics that wiped out gut bacteria curbed brain cell production in mice, a new study finds.
- Genetics
Some Stone Age humans ventured back to Africa
DNA from an ancient woman suggests some humans trekked back to Africa.
- Genetics
Some Stone Age humans returned to Africa
DNA from an ancient woman suggests some humans trekked back to Africa.
- Animals
Hornbills join toucans in the cool beak club
Like toucans, southern yellow-billed hornbills keep things chill with cool beaks.
- Life
1.56-billion-year-old fossils add drama to Earth’s ‘boring billion’
Ancient multicellular eukaryotes big enough to be seen by the naked eye discovered in 1.56-billion-year-old rock in China may be an ancestor of modern algae.
- Health & Medicine
Math offers new view of brain and its disorders
Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses new insights into the brain's role in mental illness, sleep, and ancient rituals.
- Animals
The bizarre mating ritual of a bee parasite
Stylops ovinae insects — parasites found in mining bees — have short lives filled with trauma.
- Animals
Some animals ‘see’ the world through oddball eyes
Purple urchins, aka crawling eyeballs, are just one of several bizarre visual systems broadening scientists’ view of what makes an eye.
- Agriculture
New analysis: Genetically engineered foods not a health risk
No real evidence for health or environmental dangers of GE crops.
- Life
How the Galápagos cormorant got its tiny wings
Galápagos cormorants’ tiny wings may be due to altered reception in cellular antennas.
