Life

  1. Life

    Average bear could be pretty smart

    Computer tests of solitary species reveal animals’ ability to learn concepts.

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  2. Life

    Kick in the gut may lead to IBD

    Short-term infection could create conditions for long-term intestinal illness, a study suggests.

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  3. Life

    Antibiotics linked to fat buildup

    Research in mice implicates changes in gut microbe mix; study in infants finds excess weight gain after use of the drugs.

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  4. Humans

    Gene may boost effects of peer pressure

    DNA trait linked to tendency to be affected by high or low levels of alcohol and cigarette use in high school.

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  5. Life

    Unusual virus may tie snakes in knots

    Captive snakes with a fatal disease harbor viruses never before seen in reptiles.

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  6. Life

    Mantis shrimp flub color vision test

    Unexpectedly poor results on crustacean eye exams suggest there’s another way to perceive color.

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  7. Life

    Smell deals with deprivation differently

    One odor-related brain region called the orbitofrontal cortex keeps the sense primed for resumed input during a cold.

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  8. Humans

    North African Diaspora written in genes

    DNA analysis of people from 15 groups identifies distinct groups and migrations.

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  9. Neuroscience

    When evaluating textbook dogmas about the brain, keep an open mind

    When evaluating textbook dogmas about the brain, keep an open mind.

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  10. Life

    How the elephant gets its infrasound

    Just blowing air through a pachyderm’s larynx produces fundamental elements of the mysterious rumblings that send messages too low for people to hear.

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  11. Life

    Rabies resistance arises in backwater thick with vampire bats

    Residents of two remote Peruvian communities appear to have survived infection by the deadly virus.

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  12. Animals

    Epidemic of skin lesions reported in reef fish

    A British-Australian research team has just found coral trout living on the south side of the Great Barrier Reef sporting dark skin raised, scablike, brown-black growths. Although the authors believe they’ve stumbled onto an epidemic of melanoma — a type of skin cancer — other experts have their doubts. Strong ones.

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