Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
Genes tell tale of cat domestication
A peek into cats’ genetic makeup may help reveal how hissing wild felines became purring tabbies.
- Neuroscience
Brain regions linking odors to words pinpointed
Scientists have pinpointed two brain regions involved in linking odors to their names, with implications for why smells are hard to identify.
- Life
Epic worldwide effort explores all of insect history
A whopper of a genetic analysis fits all living orders of insects into one genealogical evolutionary tree.
- Animals
Just enough fat is good for an elephant seal
Fat affects the buoyancy of marine mammals. As elephant seals get fatter, they can spend less energy swimming and more time foraging, a new study finds.
- Genetics
DNA from 37,000-year-old human hints at early European history
DNA from a roughly 37,000-year-old Homo sapiens skeleton supports recent findings about when ancient humans and Neandertals interbred.
- Neuroscience
For a friendlier zebra finch, just add stress
Adding stress hormones to the diet of developing zebra finches produced birds that were social butterflies.
- Life
Norovirus grown in lab, with help from bacteria
Norovirus, famous for sickening cruise ship passengers, has finally been grown in human cells in a lab, offering scientists a chance to test new therapies.
- Animals
Bats jam each other in echolocation battles for food
By blaring a special call at just the right instant, Mexican free-tailed bats can ruin each other’s sonar-guided swoops toward prey.
- Psychology
With a tap on the back, researchers create ghostly sensation
Experimentally induced illusion probes supernatural experiences, hallucinations.
- Paleontology
Ancient sea creature took to land and sea
A primitive relative of the ichthyosaur had strong bones and big flippers.
- Health & Medicine
Snakebite test correctly IDs attackers in Nepal
A new test that swabs for traces of snake DNA around bite marks can identify the guilty serpent and may improve treatments.
- Genetics
Genes influence Ebola’s impact
A study in a diverse strain of mice shows how the effect of an Ebola infection can depend on genes.
