Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Parkinson’s patients drive better with brain stimulation
Patients make fewer errors with a little help from implanted electrodes, at least on a computer.
- Neuroscience
Narcolepsy may be an autoimmune disease
Narcolepsy occurs when wayward immune forces launch an attack on brain cells responsible for wakefulness, a new study suggests.
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- Microbes
MRSA strain swiped skin bacteria genes to survive
A common strain of the dangerous microbe may be a wolf in sheep's clothing.
- Animals
New species of tapir found in the Amazon
A sixth species of the large, snouted mammal was hiding in plain sight, well known by indigenous people.
- Life
Neandertal genes point to interbreeding, inbreeding
DNA from 50,000 years ago underscores modest levels of mating across hominid populations.
- Animals
Snake and lizard ancestor may have birthed live young
Over millions of years, reptiles may have switched back and forth between laying eggs and giving birth to live babies.
- Microbes
A newfound respect for the microbial world
Despite what many people think about humans’ place in the scheme of things, scientists are finding more evidence that we live in a world of microbes.
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- Animals
China trumps Near East for signs of most ancient farm cats
Earliest evidence found for grain as a force in feline domestication.
- Chemistry
Ancient bond holds life together, literally
The chemical link between sulfur and nitrogen in animal tissues and organs may have sparked the assembly of single cells into complex animals.
