Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Getting to know the real living dead
A look at the bacteria inside bloated cadavers finds the dead are teeming with life.
- Animals
Pink armadillos ain’t your Texas critters
It’s a real animal, the smallest armadillo species in the world. At about 100 grams, it would fit in your hands.
- Neuroscience
Monkeys control two arms in virtual reality
A new brain-computer interface has enabled movement of two virtual limbs at the same time.
- Microbes
Bacteria starved in space grow better
Given limited resources microbes in microgravity make more new cells than their counterparts on Earth.
- Paleontology
Oldest known T. Rex relative found in Utah
Researchers say the animal — named the gore king of the southwest — was an early member of the tyrannosaur family.
- Life
Newborns’ weak immunity may allow helpful bacteria to gain a foothold
Though infant immune systems raise risk of infection, they also allow good microbes into the body, study in mice shows.
- Neuroscience
Autism may be detectable in baby’s first months of life
Infants later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder lose tendency to gaze at others’ eyes during first half-year, researchers find.
- Animals
Birds avoid the sounds of roads
The sound of cars driving down a road is enough to deter many bird species from an area.
- Animals
‘Bearded ladies’ are less sexy to male lizards
Females with masculine neck marks are passed over as mates.
- Life
Ice crystals form along cells’ seamlike structures
A detailed view of how ice forms among cells could lead to better tissue preservation.
- Paleontology
Giant platypus tooth found
A fossil molar found in Australia reveals a previously unknown extinct species of the mammal.
- Animals
The reefs are alive with the sound of oysters
How does an oyster figure out where to settle down in life? It listens for where the party’s at. A new study shows that oyster larvae can detect sound in the water.
