Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Animals

    A monkey uses a stick to pick its teeth and nose

    A wild bearded capuchin monkey in Brazil was caught using tools to pick its nose and teeth.

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  2. Animals

    Rabbits leave a mark on soil long after they are gone

    Twenty years after rabbits were removed from a sub-Antarctic island, soil fungus has yet to return to normal, a study finds.

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  3. Animals

    Same math describes relationship between diverse predators and prey

    From lions to plankton, predators have about the same relationship to the amount of prey, a big-scale ecology study predicts.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    How farm life can prevent allergies

    Farm dust prevents allergies by turning on an anti-inflammatory enzyme in the cells lining mice’s lungs.

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  5. Life

    Unhelpful adaptations can speed up evolution

    Unhelpful changes in gene activity stimulate natural selection.

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  6. Paleontology

    New dolphin fossil makes a splash

    A newly discovered dolphin fossil provides clues to the evolution of river dolphins in the Americas.

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  7. Paleontology

    New dolphin fossil makes a splash

    A newly discovered dolphin fossil provides clues to the evolution of river dolphins in the Americas.

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  8. Animals

    Some jellyfish sting deeper than others

    A new study shows that some jellyfish have nematocysts that can sting deep into the skin. That may explain why their sting is so painful.

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  9. Life

    New microscope techniques give deepest view yet of living cells

    Two new microscopy techniques are helping scientists see smaller structures in living cells than ever glimpsed before.

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  10. Life

    New microscope techniques give deepest view yet of living cells

    Two new microscopy techniques are helping scientists see smaller structures in living cells than ever glimpsed before.

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  11. Earth

    Volcanic activity convicted in Permian extinction

    Precision dating confirms that Siberian volcanic eruptions could have triggered the Permian extinction.

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  12. Animals

    Coral competitor becomes ally in fight against starfish

    On the reef, algae compete with coral. But they may also protect coral from attacks by crown-of-thorns starfish, a new study finds.

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