Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
White matter scaffold offers new view of the brain
A new neural map of white matter connections may explain why some injuries are worse than others.
- Animals
A weighted butt gives chickens a dinosaur strut
Scientists put wooden tails on chickens to learn how small feathered dinosaurs moved, with results captured on video.
- Climate
Sharks could serve as ocean watchdogs
Tagged with sensors, toothy fish gather weather and climate data in remote Pacific waters.
- Animals
Secret feather flaps help a falcon control its dive
The pop-up feathers of a falcon act similar to flaps on an airplane’s wing.
- Genetics
Genes involved in dog OCD identified
Scientists say they have identified several of the genes that trigger obsessive-compulsive disorder in Doberman pinschers, bullterriers, sheepdogs and German shepherds.
- Animals
Bonobos feel the beat
Some animals, like cockatoos and bonobos, are able to move to the groove. Studying animals that keep the beat might tell us whether musical rhythm is really widespread.
- Ecosystems
Arctic melting may help parasites infect new hosts
Grey seals and beluga whales encounter killer microbes as ranges change.
- Animals
‘Packrat’ is the new term for ‘really organized’
The more eclectic hoarder species segregate pantry from lumber room from junk museum. The result is more orderly than the closets of some human packrats.
- Animals
It doesn’t always take wings to fly high
Microbes, bees, termites and geese have been clocked at high altitudes, where air density and oxygen are low.
- Neuroscience
Video games could boost reading skills in dyslexia
People with dyslexia, a developmental reading disorder, have a harder time switching from visual cues to auditory ones, but the constant shifts in video games may help improve the how quickly individuals perceive the change.
- Animals
In crazy vs. fire, the ant with the detox dance wins
Tawny crazy ants pick fights with fire ants and win, thanks to a previously unknown way of detoxifying fire ant venom.
- Neuroscience
Gene adds wrinkle to brain development
Mutations in the gene GPR56 results in misshapen folds in the brain tied to intellectual and language disabilities.
