Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Refined ‘three-parent-baby’ procedure improves chances for healthy infant
Improved technique could reduce risk of passing on faulty mitochondria.
- Life
Obesity’s weight gain message starts in gut
Acetate made by gut microbes stimulates weight gain, research in rodents suggests.
- Life
By leaking light, squid hides in plain sight
Glass squid camouflage their eyes with wonderfully inefficient bioluminescence.
- Paleontology
Human route into Americas traced via trail of bison fossils
Bread crumbs in the form of ancient bison may mark one potential path that humans took to colonize the Americas.
- Science & Society
Francis Crick’s good luck revolutionized biology
Francis Crick, born 100 years ago, chose to study molecular biology first and then later tackled consciousness.
- Animals
Maximum size of giant squid remains a mystery
A scientist has come up with a new estimate of the maximum size of giant squid. He says the animals could be as long as two public buses.
- Animals
Pygmy blue whales deepen their moans
Sri Lankan pygmy blue whales are tweaking their calls — making one part deeper and keeping another part the same — but scientists can’t say why. The finding injects a new wrinkle in theories about blue whale calls.
- Genetics
Ancient DNA tells of two origins for dogs
Genetic analysis of an ancient Irish mutt reveals complicated history of dog domestication.
- Environment
Tiny plastics cause big problems for perch
Researchers have linked microplastics to feeding behavior changes and development issues in Baltic Sea perch.
- Animals
Tiny plastics cause big problems for perch, lab study finds
Researchers have linked microplastics to feeding behavior changes and development issues in Baltic Sea perch.
- Life
Jumping gene turned peppered moths the color of soot
A single gene is behind some of the most famous examples of natural selection.
- Climate
Readers share climate change concerns
Readers respond to the April 16, 2016, issue of Science News with thoughts on climate change, prairie dogs and more.
