Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Genetics
What your earwax says about your ancestry
Both armpit and ear wax secretions are smellier in Caucasians than in Asians, thanks to a tiny genetic change that differs across ethnic groups.
- Animals
A tiny ocean vortex, with pop art pizzazz
Coral polyps kick up a whirling vortex of water by whipping their hairlike cilia back and forth in the photography winner of the 2013 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge.
- Neuroscience
Brain’s fact-checker located
A bit of brain tissue near the top of the head may be the body’s fact-checker. Called the supplementary motor cortex, this brain region monitors the body’s action and sends an alert when a mistake is made.
- Animals
We’re only noticing the snowy owls
A lemming boom last summer probably led to rises in populations of several predator species.
- Animals
Fish lose their fear on a denuded reef
Juvenile damselfish lose their ability to smell danger when in a degraded habitat.
- Neuroscience
Like people, dogs have brain areas that respond to voices
MRI study may help explain how pups understand human communication.
- Life
Fins and wings alike share design features
Animals have adapted a number of different ways to swim and fly. But new research suggests that wings, fins and flukes share a couple of basic design parameters.
- Life
Questions raised about new method for making stem cells
A January study showing that stem cells can be produced by dipping adult cells in a simple acid bath is now under investigation.
- Life
Big study raises worries about bees trading diseases
Pathogens may jump from commercial colonies to the wild.
- Animals
Elephants offer a reassuring touch in stressful times
Elephants seem to comfort their comrades in times of need, hinting that the animals may have the capacity for complicated mental feats such as empathy.
- Animals
Why was Marius, the euthanized giraffe, ever born?
The problem of ‘surplus’ zoo animals reveals a divide on animal contraceptives.
- Psychology
Stress hormone rise linked to less risky financial decisions
People given cortisol chose safer options, suggesting inherent risk aversion as an overlooked variable in financial crises.
