Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- Genetics
Some Stone Age humans ventured back 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.
