Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Rats induced into hibernation-like state
Injection of compound causes animals to slow heartbeat, lower body temperature.
- Neuroscience
Video game sharpens up elderly brains
Adults over 60 who played for several hours a month beat untrained 20-year-olds in racing game.
- Animals
New fungus species found killing salamanders
First there was amphibian killer fungus Bd. Now there's Bs.
- Animals
Traveling with elders helps whooping cranes fly straight
Rare data show birds get more efficient the more they migrate along route between Wisconsin and Florida.
- Life
Tiny human almost-brains made in lab
Stem cells arrange themselves into a version of the most complex human organ.
- Life
Flu antibodies can make disease worse
Pigs vaccinated against one influenza virus got lung damage if infected with another strain.
- Life
A fight between gut parasites means a win for people
Worms and Giardia can antagonize each other in the human intestinal tract, study of people in the Amazon suggests.
- Animals
Porpoises Can Teach Man Marine Diving, Detection
Excerpt from the September 7, 1963, issue of Science News Letter
- Microbes
Let the bedbugs bite
Harold Harlan has been feeding bedbugs, intentionally, on his own blood since 1973. He keeps pint or quart jars in his home containing at least 4,000 bugs.
- Life
Bats can carry MERS
DNA of a deadly respiratory virus has been found in a Saudi Arabian mammal.
- Life
Natural antifreeze prevents frogsicles
Sugar and other chemicals keep Alaskan frogs from freezing completely.
- Animals
For sheep horns, bigger is not better
Trade-offs between studliness and survival keep less endowed sheep in the mix.
