Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    New fossils from Patagonia may rewrite the history of duck-billed dinosaurs

    New findings are adding a wrinkle to researchers’ understanding of how duck-billed dinosaurs conquered the Cretaceous world.

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  2. Ecosystems

    The Amazon might not have a ‘tipping point.’ But it’s still in trouble

    Scientists race to foretell the fate of the vast forest facing deforestation and climate change.

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  3. Tech

    How understanding horses could inspire more trustworthy robots

    Computer scientist Eakta Jain pioneered the study of how human-horse interactions could help improve robot design and shape human-robot interactions.

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  4. Chemistry

    One photon is all it takes to kick off photosynthesis

    A single particle of light is the spark that begins the process of turning light to chemical energy in photosynthetic bacteria, a new study confirms.

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  5. Life

    ‘Polyester bees’ brew beer-scented baby food in plastic cribs

    Ptiloglossa bees’ baby food gets its boozy fragrance from fermentation by mysteriously selected microbes.

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  6. Animals

    Camouflaging wheat with a wheat smell could be a new approach to pest control

    Wheat fields coated in wheat germ oil confuse the noses of mice, reducing seed loss by more than 60 percent, a new study finds.

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  7. Animals

    Bowhead whales may have a cancer-defying superpower: DNA repair

    Bowhead whale cells repair damaged DNA exceptionally well, an ability that could prevent cancer and help the marine mammals live for centuries

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  8. Animals

    RNA editing helps octopuses cope with the cold

    California two-spot octopuses tweak the proteins they make, potentially to help maintain brain function when temperatures dip.

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  9. Neuroscience

    Brain cavities that swell in space may need at least 3 years to recover

    MRI scans of astronauts show that duration in space and time between flights affect how much the brain’s fluid-filled cavities expand during missions.

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  10. Life

    50 years ago, flesh-eating screwworms pushed scientists to mass produce flies

    "Fly factories” dreamed up in the early 1970s have helped North and Central America keep screwworms in check for decades.

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  11. Animals

    When and why did masturbation evolve in primates? A new study provides clues

    In a first-of-its-kind comparative study, researchers show that primates were masturbating 40 million years ago and that the behavior may help males keep their sperm fresh.

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  12. Life

    A gene therapy shot might keep cats from getting pregnant without being spayed

    Even after mating with fertile males, females given the cat contraceptive, which targets an ovulation-preventing hormone, did not get pregnant.

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