Life
We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
Trunk in cheek, elephant mimics Korean
Novel posture lets animal imitate sounds of human words.
- Science & Society
Insect illustrator
Taina Litwak is an “art department of one” in D.C. for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Systematic Entomology Laboratory.
- Life
Extensive bird family tree rewrites some history
Unexpected pattern of evolution found across hemispheres.
- Life
Across 1,000 genomes, rarities abound
Number of infrequent genetic variants reflects human population explosion and geographic diversity.
- Life
Hunting dark matter with DNA
Particle physicists propose a new way to detect dark matter using the molecule of life.
- Neuroscience
Highlights from Neuroscience 2012
A collection of reports from the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, New Orleans.
- Genetics
Cloning-like method targets mitochondrial diseases
Providing healthy ‘power plants’ in donor egg cells appears feasible in humans, a new study finds.
- Paleontology
Earliest primate had tree-climber ankles
A creature known only from fossils of its teeth gets some more parts.
- Chemistry
Human blood types have deep evolutionary roots
The ABO system may date back 20 million years or more, a genetic analysis suggests.
- Life
Hind wings gave four-winged dino flight control
Much-debated rear wings could have given Microraptor extra help in airborne maneuvers.
- Life
Fasting hormone helps mice live longer
A protein can trick the body into entering starvation mode.
- Microbes
Protecting the planet
Catharine “Cassie” Conley has the coolest job title at NASA: She’s the agency’s planetary protection officer. (The best title used to be “director of the universe,” but a reconfiguration a few years back eliminated that job description, she says.)
