Life
- Life
A giant penguin plumed in earth tones
The first well-preserved feathers of 36-million-year-old diving bird give clues to color and evolution.
By Susan Milius - Life
New genetic blueprint for bloodsuckers
Mosquito genome number three could lead to new pesticides to fight the adaptable pests.
- Animals
Monkey in the mirror
Monkeys with implanted head devices use mirrors to inspect themselves, perhaps signaling self-awareness.
By Bruce Bower - Life
A thousand points of height
A study finds heaps of genetic variants that influence a person’s stature, but even added together they don’t stack up to much.
- Life
A salty tail
Just adding sodium can stimulate limb regrowth in tadpoles, a study finds, raising the possibility that human tissue might respond to relatively simple treatment.
- Physics
Being single a real drag for spores
Launching thousands of gametes at once helps a fungus waft its offspring farther.
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- Life
Lone Star cats rescue cousins in Sunshine State
Florida panther numbers have tripled since the introduction of females from Texas injected vital genetic diversity, a new report says.
By Susan Milius - Life
X-rays in 3-D show nanosized details
A new X-ray microscope technique peers inside materials to reveal their inner nature.
- Health & Medicine
Main malaria parasite came to humans from gorillas, not chimps
Using DNA from fecal samples, researchers show that the infection was not passed to Homo sapiens by its closest primate relative.
- Health & Medicine
Vital flaw
Liver cells that inherit the wrong number of chromosomes often do just fine, and may even have some advantages.
- Life
Flies off-kilter
In a newly described species, some males have one limb bigger than the other.
By Susan Milius