Life
- Genetics
We finally have a fully complete human genome
Finding the missing 8 percent of the human genome gives researchers a more powerful tool to better understand human health, disease and evolution.
- Paleontology
Mammals’ bodies outpaced their brains right after the dinosaurs died
Fossils show that mammals’ brains and bodies did not balloon together. The animals’ brains grew bigger later.
- Science & Society
Here are the Top 10 times scientific imagination failed
Some scientists of the past couldn’t imagine that atoms or gravity waves could one day be studied – or nuclear energy harnessed.
- Microbes
New images reveal details of two bacteria’s molecular syringes
It’s unclear exactly how these species use their tiny injectors, but learning how they work could lead to nanodevices that target specific bacteria.
- Animals
Invasive jorō spiders get huge and flashy — if they’re female
Taking the pulse (literally) of female jorō spiders hints that the arachnid might push farther north than a relative that has stayed put in the South.
- Animals
How scientists found an African bat lost to science for 40 years
African researchers had been searching for the Hill’s horseshoe bat since 2013. Now, the first recording of its echolocation call may help find more.
- Life
How a virus turns caterpillars into zombies doomed to climb to their deaths
By manipulating genes used in vision, a virus sends its host caterpillar on a doomed quest for sunlight, increasing the chances for viral spread.
- Life
Lost genes may help explain how vampire bats survive on blood alone
The 13 identified genes underpin a range of physiological and behavioral strategies that the bats have evolved.
- Animals
Here’s how boa constrictors squeeze their dinner without suffocating themselves
Carefully controlled breathing allows boa constrictors to pull off their signature move without cutting off their own air supply.
- Climate
Forests help reduce global warming in more ways than one
Trees are often touted as bulwarks against climate change for their capacity to sequester carbon, but that’s just one part of the story.
- Paleontology
Spinosaurus’ dense bones fuel debate over whether some dinosaurs could swim
New evidence that Spinosaurus and its kin hunted underwater won't be the last word on whether some dinosaurs were swimmers.
- Genetics
How gene therapy overcame high-profile failures
A dark period for gene therapy didn’t derail scientists determined to help patients.
