Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Heavy marijuana use may affect dopamine response
People who regularly smoke five joints a day had dampened reactions to the chemical messenger dopamine.
- Paleontology
Baby mammoths died traumatic deaths
CT scans show that two young mammoths probably suffocated.
- Health & Medicine
HIV reemerges in ‘cured’ child
The discovery spotlights limits in detecting the clandestine germ and raises questions about whether HIV can ever truly be cured.
- Animals
Elephant shrews are, oddly, related to actual elephants
A new species in the group is the smallest yet, with adults smaller than a newborn kitten.
- Animals
New water bear species found in Antarctica
A tiny creature called a tardigrade could shed light on how animals reached the far southern continent.
- Earth
Humans have long history with causing extinctions
Data suggests major die-offs of large animals during the last Ice Age were linked to people, not climate.
- Neuroscience
Feedback
Readers weigh in on marijuana legalization, twisted twists, high-kicking frogs and more.
- Climate
How species will, or won’t, manage in a warming world
Fast evolution and flexibility, in biology and behavior, may allow some species to adapt to a warming world. Others may need help from humans, or risk dying out.
- Life
Microscapes take off at D.C’s Dulles airport
“Life: Magnified,” a display of microscope images depicting cells, microbes and details of life invisible to the naked eye runs from June to November.
- Environment
Decline in birds linked to common insecticide
In addition to harming bee populations, neonicotinoid insecticides may also be detrimental to bug-eating birds.
- Life
Ocean microbes orchestrate gene activity
The bacteria’s daily cycles aren’t just for photosynthesis, a new study suggests.
- Life
Fiber optics in mammals’ eyes separate colors
Specialized cells in the retina separate different wavelengths of light to enable sharp vision during the day without harming night vision.
