Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Newborn brain has to learn how to feed itself
Nerve cells in newborn mice can’t yet feed themselves.
- Health & Medicine
In malaria battle, indoor bug spraying has unintended consequence
Years of spraying indoors may inadvertently have push malaria-spreading mosquitoes to venture outdoors for a bite.
- Life
Benign-turned-deadly bacterium baffles scientists
Outbreak of Elizabethkingia continues to grow as disease investigators struggle to find source.
- Life
For cleanest hands, squirt and count to 30
Rubbing hands for 30 seconds is the most effective way to use hand sanitizer, a study of health care workers finds.
- Life
For tooth decay microbes, many routes lead to kids’ mouths
Mothers aren’t their children’s only source of bacteria that cause dental cavities, new research shows.
- Animals
Three-toed sloths are even more slothful than two-toed sloths
The three-toed sloth Bradypus variegatus has the lowest field metabolic rate ever recorded, a new study finds.
- Oceans
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents more abundant than thought
Ecosystem-supporting hydrothermal vents are much more abundant along the ocean floor than previously thought.
- Microbes
Tests turn up dicey bagged ice
Tests of bagged ice found that 19 percent exceeded recommended thresholds for bacterial contamination.
- Microbes
Thaw tests turn up dicey bagged ice
Tests of bagged ice found that 19 percent exceeded recommended thresholds for bacterial contamination.
- Animals
That ‘Dory’ for sale may have been poisoned with cyanide
Preliminary results from a new study show that over half of aquarium fish sold in the United States may have been caught with cyanide.
- Space
Readers weigh in on ET and the meaning of life
Reader feedback from the June 25, 2016, issue of Science News
- Neuroscience
Cocaine addicts can’t kick other habits either
Habitual users tend to get stuck in nondrug-related habits more easily, too, pointing to a potential strategy for treatment
