Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Chemistry
Synthetic nanomaterial can recognize viruses
The new method may have advantages over antibody-based technologies.
- Tech
Imaging technique offers look inside hearing loss
Two-photon microscopy visualizes hair cells in the inner ear, offering insights into processes leading to deafness.
- Life
Bird, human tweets come from similar parts of the brain
Genetics study finds parallels in birdsong and language.
- Life
Melting Arctic may make algae flourish
More sunlight penetrates thinning Arctic sea ice, enabling algal growth.
- Life
Antianxiety drugs affect fish, too
Perch swim more and eat faster when exposed to concentrations of an antianxiety medication found in rivers.
- Life
Diversity breeds disease resistance in frogs
Species-rich amphibian communities prove better at fending off limb-deforming parasitic infections.
- Chemistry
Bitter and sour taste detectors also say, ‘too salty’
Mice that can’t sense the two tastes find high sodium attractive.
- Animals
Sea slug carries disposable penis, plus spares
A hermaphroditic gastropod sheds its penis after one use, then uncoils another.
- Humans
In research, it matters whether you’re a man or a mouse
A study that compares trauma responses of mice with those in people questions the relevance of mouse research to human disease.
- Life
Ancestors of today’s placental mammals may never have shared the Earth with dinosaurs
A newly constructed family tree dovetails with the fossil record, but differs considerably from previous genetic studies by suggesting that placental mammals emerged after the dinosaur extinction.
- Animals
Compared with rodents, bat species carry more viruses
Viruses that can jump from animals to people may find the flying mammals a fine place to lurk.
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