Life
We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
H7N9 flu makes a comeback
Scientists warn that the risk that the illness could spread remains.
- Life
A little acid or a tight squeeze can turn a cell stemlike
Stresses send mouse cells into primordial state capable of making any tissue.
- Neuroscience
‘Unique’ human brain regions similar to monkeys’ brains
Monkeys may have rudimentary brain wiring that later evolved into the connections that gave humans the ability to understand language, think flexibly and make decisions.
- Neuroscience
Famous brain surgery patient H.M. retained a chunk of hippocampus
The patient's amnesia was probably due to the loss of other regions and neural connections.
- Life
Molecule stops MERS spread among cultured human cells
The molecule interacts with the protein the MERS virus uses to enter a cell.
- Neuroscience
Big science for lean times
The greatest promises of brain research — a cellular description of thought and behavior and, even more importantly, strategies to battle disorders of the brain — have yet to be fulfilled. Making good on those promises is the motivation behind the federal BRAIN Initiative.
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- Animals
Windows may kill up to 988 million birds a year in the United States
Single-family homes and low-rise buildings do much more damage than skyscrapers.
- Animals
Gray seals snack on harbor porpoises
Photo evidence confirms seals' fatal attacks on harbor porpoises in the English Channel, suggesting that declines in the seals' usual fare are forcing the animals to seek out other high-energy food.
- Genetics
Stone Age Spaniard had blue eyes, dark skin
Genetics of 7,000-year-old skeleton suggests blond hair, pale skin came later.
- Climate
Grape expectations
Global warming has delivered long, warm growing seasons and blockbuster vintages to the world’s great wine regions. But by mid-century, excessive heat will push premium wine-making into new territory.
- Earth
Life’s early traces
Tiny tufts, rolls and crinkles in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that cellular life got a relatively quick start on Earth.
