Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
The human genome takes shape and shifts over time
Scientists are mapping and modeling the 4-D human genome to get beyond its linear structure.
- Animals
A naturalist recounts birds’ lives in the Scottish Highlands
In Gods of the Morning, a naturalist chronicles how birds and other wildlife withstand the changing seasons in the Scottish Highlands
- Animals
‘Prehistoric Predators’ is a carnival of ancient dinosaurs, mammals and more
A new children’s book offers gorgeous illustrations and information for everyone about ancient carnivores.
- Life
Extinction in lab bottle was a fluke, experiment finds
Extinction in a bottle was a random catastrophe, not survival of the fittest.
- Neuroscience
Whistled language uses both sides of the brain
Unlike spoken words, language made of whistles processed by both sides of the brain.
- Animals
Seeing humans as superpredators
People have become a unique predator, hunting mostly adults of other species.
- Plants
What fairy circles teach us about science
Science can’t yet tell us how fairy circles form, but that’s not a failure for science.
- Genetics
Gene thought to cause obesity works indirectly
Researchers have discovered a “genetic switch” that determines whether people will burn extra calories or save them as fat.
- Health & Medicine
Stiff cellular environment links obesity to breast cancer
Obesity may directly support tumor growth by making a cell’s surroundings stiffer.
- Health & Medicine
‘Vomiting device’ sounds gross but it helps study infections
Scientists created a “vomiting device” to study how norovirus spreads through the air.
- Life
Experimental MERS vaccine shows promise
An experimental vaccine against the MERS virus triggers immune protection, a new study finds.
- Animals
Hummingbird tongues may work like micropumps
Hummingbird tongues work as elastic micropumps instead of simple thin tubes, researchers say in latest round of a scientific debate.
