Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Animals

    Centipede venom fights pain

    Molecule from toxin makes mice less sensitive to pain, may work as well as morphine.

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  2. Life

    Dangerous Digs

    By properly managing a tumor cell’s microenvironment, cancer researchers are making cancer something people live with, not die from.

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  3. Animals

    ‘World’s ugliest animal’ contest took a blobfish out of water

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  4. Neuroscience

    An on-off switch for eating

    By triggering or silencing certain brain cells, scientists can get mice to feed or stop feeding regardless of hunger.

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  5. Life

    Newfound biological clocks set by the moon

    Two unrelated marine organisms have rhythms dictated by tides, lunar cycle.

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  6. Ecosystems

    Light pollution takes a toll on the aquatic food web

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  7. Plants

    Hard-shelled seaweed survives by its loose knees

    Stringy joints between calcified algae’s segments don’t break easily under repeated stresses.

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  8. Life

    Immune protein explains skin diseases’ link to infection

    Molecule called IL-29 protects people with psoriasis from viruses.

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  9. Animals

    Vampire reality check

    A vampire bat drinks one meal a night, and missing just three nights in a row would probably kill the animal.

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  10. Animals

    Feedback

    Readers respond to "Collision course" and "The tune wreckers" from our September 21 issue, plus some feedback on the new website.

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  11. Paleontology

    Dinosaur dreams dashed

    Fans of 'Jurassic Park' may be disappointed (or possibly relieved) to learn that you can’t get ancient DNA from amber.

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  12. Life

    Killer cells trained on leukemia may protect some people

    Immune system seems to remember cancer in people who've never had it, a new study suggests.

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