Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    Compounds defeat malaria at every step

    Experimental drugs are first to kill all stages of the parasite’s infection cycle.

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  2. Animals

    To study turkey instincts, consider robot turkeys

    In 2004, Australian researchers built robot turkeys to study the instincts of Australian brush turkey chicks. Robots can be a useful way of learning more about animals, but the use of robots has yet to take over in animal behavior studies.

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  3. Neuroscience

    The memory benefits of distraction

    We usually think of distraction as a bad thing for memory. But under certain conditions, distraction may help rather than hurt.

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  4. Animals

    Odd head of seahorse cloaks its sneak attacks

    Head shape creates hydrodynamic fake-out for stealth hunting.

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  5. Materials Science

    Material inspired by dragonfly wings bursts bacteria

    Silicon studded with nanostructures could act as antimicrobial coating on medical devices.

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  6. Genetics

    DNA changes may show how whales adapted to water

    Comparing the genetic material of whales has revealed DNA changes that may have helped the animals adapt to aquatic environments.

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  7. Plants

    How weeds hitchhike across the country

    A drive down a muddy lane can be fun, but it can also pick up the seeds of weeds or invasive species and transport them far away.

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  8. Life

    Fungal fight club

    Combat between fungal individuals is a bit like war between heaps of spaghetti.

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  9. Paleontology

    New dinosaur species joins ranks of giant carnivores

    The newly named Siats meekerorum probably roamed what is now Utah about 98 million years ago terrorizing the ancestors of T. rex.

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  10. Agriculture

    Probiotics may protect piglets from E. coli infection

    Beneficial bacteria could replace antibiotics in pig feed.

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  11. Neuroscience

    Gene that boosts Alzheimer’s risk might protect against it too

    Carrying certain genetic versions of apolipoprotein E is a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. A new study looks at the effects of different types of APOE on the major markers of Alzheimer’s in mice and shows that all forms are not equal.

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  12. Life

    Only two Y chromosome genes needed for viable mouse sperm

    Healthy and fertile mice were born from embryos created using spermlike cells.

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