Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Fruit fly’s giant sperm is quite an exaggeration
Giant sperm, about 20 times a male fruit fly’s body length, could make the insects the champs of supersized sexual ornaments.
- Neuroscience
Alzheimer’s culprit may fight other diseases
A notorious Alzheimer’s villain may help bust microbes.
- Life
Women in sports are often underrepresented in science
More and more women are taking up recreational and competitive sports. But when it comes to exercise science, the studies don’t reflect that trend.
- Animals
Antibiotics in cattle leave their mark in dung
Treating cattle with antibiotics may have side effects for dung beetles, microbes and greenhouse gases.
- Animals
Snot could be crucial to dolphin echolocation
An acoustic model reveals that echolocation relies on mucus lined tissue lumps in the animal’s nasal passage.
- Animals
For baby sea turtles, it helps to have a lot of siblings
After hatching, baby sea turtles must dig themselves out of their nest. This requires less energy if there are lots of siblings, a new study finds.
- Life
Scientists find way to break through bad bacteria’s defenses
Enzymes can break down bacterial biofilm’s sugary walls.
- Health & Medicine
CDC tracking 279 U.S. pregnant women with possible Zika infections
The number of U.S. pregnant women with evidence of Zika infection has climbed to nearly 300, and includes both women with and without symptoms.
- 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 returned to Africa
DNA from an ancient woman suggests some humans trekked back to Africa.
