Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Parasites help brine shrimp survive toxic waters
When brine shrimp are infected with tapeworms, the tiny aquatic organisms survive better in warm waters and in those laced with toxic arsenic.
- Animals
Eat your stinkbugs
Prepared as a snack by some groups in southern Africa, the stinkbug Encosternum delegorguei is a good source of protein and antioxidants.
- Paleontology
Free virtual fossils for everyone
MorphoSource.org archives 3-D images of bones from over 200 genera of both living and extinct animals.
- Health & Medicine
Mind’s healing powers put to the test in new book
Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind Over Body investigates the brain’s role in keeping people healthy.
- Animals
These beetles use surface tension to water-ski
Waterlily beetles are in for a fast and bumpy ride as they fly across ponds, researchers find.
- Paleontology
Lizards locked in amber provide clues to reptile evolution
Amber-encased lizard remains that date to 99 million years ago may shed light on the evolution of geckos and chameleons.
- Animals
Is Amy Tan actually ‘thrilled’ a leech is named after her?
Novelist Amy Tan answers a lingering question about celebrities honored in scientific names of new species — her namesake is a leech.
- Genetics
Missing genes not always a problem for people
Humans have ways to make up for missing genes, study suggests.
- Animals
How killing wolves to protect livestock may backfire
Lone wolves are more likely to prey on goats and other livestock than are wolves living in packs, a new study finds.
- Paleontology
Fossil reveals an ancient arthropod’s nervous system
A roughly 520-million-year-old fossil preserved an ancient arthropod’s ventral nerve cord and peripheral nerves.
- Oceans
Magnetism from underwater power cables doesn’t deter sea life
High-voltage power cables that ferry electricity across the seafloor do not negatively impact local fish and crabs, new studies show.
- Oceans
Protected coral reefs may not be the ones that need protection
A new study finds that more than half of the world’s coral reefs site within a half-hour of a human settlement. But those that are protected tend to be far away.
