Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
1918 flu pandemic linked to human, bird virus gene swap
The 1918 pandemic flu, which killed up to 50 million people, may have come from a human virus and a bird virus swapping genetic material.
- Paleontology
‘Hidden dragon’ fossil is oldest flying reptile
Researchers have unearthed the oldest pterodactyl ever discovered: Kptodrakon progenitor soared over the Earth 163 million years ago.
- Genetics
Y chromosome gets a closer examination
The Y chromosome may play a larger role in Turner syndrome and in health and disease differences between males and females than previously thought.
- Animals
A guide to the world’s biggest flightless birds
A rhea on the loose in England has prompted warnings about approaching the bird. From ostriches to cassowaries, here’s your guide to friendly and unfriendly big birds.
- Climate
Glacial microbes gobble methane
While some bacteria produce methane in Greenland’s melting ice sheet, others may consume the greenhouse gas as it escapes.
- Animals
Frustrated fish get feisty
Smaller rainbow trout become more aggressive towards bigger fish when they don’t their usual treats.
- Genetics
Farmers assimilated foragers as they spread agriculture
While some European hunter-gatherers remained separate, others mated with the early farmers that introduced agriculture to the continent.
- Genetics
Gene therapy with electrical pulses spurs nerve growth
Deaf guinea pigs' hearing improves with electrical pulses from a hearing implant are combined with gene therapy, a new study shows.
- Animals
Secrets of a sailfish attack
The large, long-nosed sailfish use their rostrums more like a sword than a spear to attack prey.
- Animals
Dolphins use sponges to dine on different grub
The animals can learn to use tools to exploit food sources that would be otherwise unavailable, a study suggests.
- Genetics
Rainbow trout genome shows how genetic material evolved
The finding challenges the idea that whole genome duplications are followed by quick, massive reorganization and deletions of genetic material.
- Animals
Submariners’ ‘bio-duck’ is probably a whale
First acoustic tags on Antarctic minke whales suggest the marine mammals are the long-sought source of the mysterious bio-duck sound.
